13 Going On 30
by tmomo
Summary: He just wanted to have a rad party with his best friend and the cool kids but everything went so wrong that he somehow ended up as a thirty year old man. Wow, great start to being thirteen. KakaIru. AU. It's basically 13 Going On 30 silliness! Written for Iruka's 2019 Birthday Celebration.
1. Sk8er Boi

_**13 Going On 30**_

* * *

Everything was itchy. Why was everything so itchy?

Whatever, why was he even considering a turtleneck? It was almost summer! Now, if he could just get the damn thing off his head then maybe...

With his shirt pulled up over his head, Iruka incidentally didn't see the corner of his bed.

Maybe hitting his toe wouldn't have been so painful if he hadn't fallen right onto the edge of his bed and bounced off like he was a Pomeranian who just heard there were government secrets in the neighbour's yard.

Laying on his bedroom floor with massive pain shooting up his left leg and hip, the sounds of his parents sprinting upstairs were just the nail in his coffin.

"Are you okay?" Kushina demanded but Iruka just curled in on himself in embarrassment, his shirt still covering his head and breeze hinting that his baggy pants were far too low.

"Mom! Get out!" He wailed, flailing to get himself decent but his shirt was holding him hostage.

"Are you okay? Do you need help?" She asked cautiously and he could hear her moving closer but no way in hell was he letting his mother help drive his already low self-esteem into the floorboards.

"I'm fine! Just get out!" He screeched back.

For once, instead of yelling back at him to quit his shit, she actually backed out of the room and closed the door. Finally wiggling his way out of the bird's nest fabric, Iruka sat on his bedroom floor with his hair wild and pants around his ankles.

Flashing his bacon-printed boxers at his mother. What a wonderful way to start his thirteenth birthday.

The rest of the morning was thankfully without as much embarrassment but he could tell Kushina was ignoring him heavily, probably because of the tone he took with her and he already felt bad about it.

Minato was all smiles though, calmly sitting at the kitchen table with his coffee and a warm smile. "Happy birthday, bud. Welcome to your teenage years."

"Thanks," Iruka muttered with a strained smile. Kushina was behind her husband, feeding the baby with her back to them and keeping quiet. The pants incident wasn't brought up.

As much as he wanted to apologize, he had bigger issues to worry about.

It was his birthday and also a Friday. That meant people were counting on him to throw a party which the parentals had already said no to a million times no matter how much he'd begged. He had to try his luck one more time.

"Hey, dad," He started off slowly with Minato's eyes on him the entire time, watching him intently and making his bones tremble. "I was just hoping that maybe I could…"

Like a veteran at a rave, Iruka could almost see the flashbacks Minato was having to every other time they'd throw a party, get-together or potluck that ended in either major injury or an outbreak of fear in the community.

Minato and Kushina both snapped involuntarily at the same time, "No!"

And that was a huge blow to Iruka's chest that he visibly recoiled at.

"If this is about a party, Iruka," Minato started but Iruka was already out of the room.

"Forget it!" Grabbing his backpack and his pride, he threw himself into his shoes and out the door before he could hear them calling out after him.

"Iruka!" Minato called but deflated when the front door slammed shut.

With a comforting hand on his shoulder, Kushina squeezed but Minato was already rubbing his hands over his tired face, "He's barely even a teenager yet."

"He's having a hard day," She assured. "Just wait until tonight and he'll be putty in our hands for what we got him."

"God, yes," Minato sighed dreamily, thinking of all the quiet, peaceful days they'd have after that night. "For once, a quiet house."

Naruto shrieked happily from his high chair, smacking a bowl of mush with his spoon and sending everything flying.

Baggy jeans and equally baggy shirt, Iruka wondered if fashion should even be on his mind. He felt so sweaty, he probably smelled worse than he looked which was definitely horrible. It was so hot and it was only the end of May, totally whack. The universe was conspiring against him to make this day the worst. He just wanted to crawl out of his own skin, taking his skinny frame with him.

There was one last hope though. Minato and Kushina weren't down for a party, no surprise there since the last one he'd had ended in the basement smelling like motor oil for a week. It was expected at this point but he'd tried. Now, it was time for Plan B.

B for Best Friend.

Even though Kakashi Hatake wasn't what people would consider 'popular' or 'cool' he was definitely Iruka's rock in more ways than one. He was the smartest kid in school and definitely the calmest of the bunch in contrast to the garbage fire that Iruka was. People liked the guy because he was easy to talk to and Iruka would never say it out loud, but he was almost jealous sometimes. Not about the social aspect. No, Iruka had that down pat. He was a casanova who could charm his way into people's hearts. Well, he was good with adults who were mad at him that is.

He wasn't the smartest bean though. In all honesty, he was kind of slow. That was probably why he was almost kept back a grade twice. And Kakashi had always been there to help him out with homework or try to explain things to him even though it was pointless half the time. He just had to get through this year.

High school was just around the corner. He was a teenager now, cooler than all the other grades. He just had to prove it to the other kids in his grade.

Like Mizuki.

That guy was the coolest in class, always wearing cool clothes with his hair dyed different shades of blue. He was like one of those rap artists you see on magazines, chill and distant. Iruka hadn't really ever talked to him but Mizuki was known for being the head of the pack. For years, Iruka just wanted to fit in and Mizuki was the approval he needed. And to get that approval, he needed to throw a rad party. He needed everyone there, music, drinks, snacks, movies and girls. Girls were a must to getting anyone to come.

Thankfully, Anko was down for anything and she was usually the person to talk to for networking. She would probably round up other girls from class who he didn't know the names of and never would. He never really cared about girls come to think of it. But he had other things to worry about like food. He had tons of money saved up from all the babysitting he'd done over the years and there was a huge sale at the Walmart.

The one key piece of the puzzle was a place. That's where Kakashi came in. Mister Hatake had been gone on a month-long business trip which left Kakashi's super high-tech basement a perfect location to party. He just had to convince Kakashi.

Books were a good bribe but Iruka didn't have many of those. He could always promise his babysitting money for the next year but Iruka would rather keep his pocket change. He always had his most prized possession, his beloved, autographed poster from the Backstreet Boys that Kakashi always fawned over.

Yes, for Kakashi's basement, he was willing to trade everything.

Up ahead on the sidewalk, he spotted a figure standing at the edge of a driveway a few houses up with a backpack and glasses sliding down their nose.

"Kakashi!" He just had to get that tall, clever teen to fold a little.

Face poking out from behind a book, Kakashi looked just as chill as ever with his crisp white shirt tucked into his pants. A bit nerdy, Iruka couldn't help but think as he grinned and eagerly flung himself over Kakashi's unassuming shoulders.

"Good morning," Was Kakashi's routine grunt but Iruka already had his arm around Kakashi's neck.

"Aw, just a good morning?" He pouted but Kakashi knew he was joking.

"Fine, happy birthday," They started walking down the sidewalk together towards school as they usually did. An arm was around Iruka's waist in a hug but Iruka was already over their greetings. It was down to business.

"Kakashi," He sang and Kakashi knowingly sighed.

"Yes, birthday boy?"

"I need your help." Time to appeal to Kakashi's strengths. "I don't know what to do."

"About what?"

"You're just so smart. My parents won't let me throw a party at home."

Kakashi wasn't being moved by that tactic from the uneasy squint Iruka was getting. Time to switch it up and play the sappy friend.

"I don't know what to do. They won't even let me invite you over. I wanted to throw this awesome party for us."

From the way Kakashi seemed to sag and frown, Iruka could tell he'd hit gold.

"They won't even let me come over?" There was a disappointment and Iruka tried to play it cool even though he knew that he'd already found what he'd been looking for.

"Not even to bring you your gift?"

"You got me a gift?" Iruka asked in surprise, taken aback even though he should have probably seen it coming. They'd been best friend for years now, after all. He'd just assumed that Kakashi would just help him with his homework again.

"Duh, of course I did." Kakashi sighed and let his eyes wander away, his neck still under Iruka's arm and pulling him down to hunch a bit. "Will they let you go out?"

"Well," Iruka whined, remembering that he had a goal. "I don't know, my parents really want to spend time with me."

"We'll be able to throw a party."

Best.

"Really? At your place?"

"Yeah, they won't mind if you come over, right?"

Friend.

"I'll still have to talk to Anko."

"Tell her to come too."

Ever.

With a sparkle in his eye, Iruka pulled Kakashi close and grinned, "Really, Kakashi?"

There was a chuckle. "Duh, idiot. What's a party without other people?"

"Thank you!" With a huge hug and a thousand thanks, they broke out into laughter and started planning for the night to come. It was only as they were walking up the school steps that Kakashi admitted, "You know, Iruka. If you wanted to throw a party at my place, you could've just asked."

As always, Kakashi could see right through Iruka like the best friend he was and Iruka couldn't help but feel embarrassed by himself.

"I know," He confessed and gave a sincere smile as they pushed through the front doors. "Really, thank you."

There was pink satisfaction on Kakashi's cheeks as he replied happily, "You're welcome."

With playful shoves, they split for their lockers and Iruka was searching the crowd for Anko to tell her the good news. His strides were quick and excited as he passed through lockers to get to his own. Younger grades were looking up at him in awe at his posture even though Iruka was trying to pretend he didn't notice, hoping he looked cool.

"Ah, Iruka!" A mousy, brown-haired boy waved his way. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks, Yamato," Iruka winked and the younger boy's glowing smile was a boost of confidence on his back. He was starting to feel older, more chill. He just had to survive the day. The party was going to be great. They were going to have a good time and Mizuki wasn't going to treat him like a nerd anymore.

Anko's sharp hair was cutting through the crowd in the distance like a beacon and he hurried up to her.

"Ah, Iruka!" In her rolled-up skirt and jean jacket, he couldn't help but think that she looked like a rockstar who was gracing his presence. She had the whole room's attention as she walked in. He was happy she tolerated him. "I hear it's your birthday."

"Yeah, it is. There's gonna be a party tonight and everything." Hopefully, she couldn't see how desperate he was for her reaction.

"Oh?" Her curiosity was peaked and the wheels were already turning in her head, a smile peaking through. "I thought your parents said no."

"They're cool with it." Iruka lied. "It's gonna be at Kakashi's place since his is a lot bigger."

"Rad, we'll be there." She touched his shoulder and he couldn't help but blush a little, feeling a little awkward at the contact.

"See ya," He quickly scooted away to his locker as he could hear her calling across the hall to her friends. It was shaping to be an awesome night.

He dumped his things in his locker just as the bell rang and spent the first class eagerly making a list in his notebook of things they needed.

By the time lunch rolled around, he was locked and loaded, nervous to get things going.

With a bounce in his step, he hurried to find Kakashi and talk about their classes.

"I told Anko."

Kakashi nodded at Iruka's words and mused after the last piece of his sandwich, "Hope she doesn't tell the whole school. Gonna be hard to clean that up."

While Kakashi's mind was on the practical, Iruka couldn't help but daydream about what that would be like. It was kind of intimidating but the party would go down as legendary if everyone in school was there. Maybe then Mizuki would finally figure out they weren't dorks.

"You're picking at them." At the reminder, Iruka realised his hand was up near his face and poking at his irritating acne.

Growling in frustration, he threw his hands between his thighs and whined, "Why puberty?"

"Maybe puberty's not the source." Kakashi provided quite unhelpfully. "I mean, you haven't really grown much."

"Come on," Iruka shot a glare but Kakashi shrugged. Iruka didn't have to kick far to hit one of Kakashi's long legs. "Not everyone's a weed like you are."

Even though he was bent over the table and hissing, the other teen still managed to chuckle out, "At least I'm not a shorty like you."

"One day," Iruka pointed out. "I'm gonna be tall and awesome and you'll be so jealous."

"You'll have to wait until you're like thirty for that." Kakashi joked back but Iruka was too busy trying to kick him again.

"At least my hair will still be colourful!"

"Rude!"

Their playful fight trickled away with Iruka happy that Kakashi wasn't as tall as he was. As they walked back to their lockers, he watched the way Kakashi's hair was starting to poke free from the gel he used to hold it back and the awkward gait he walked with. His height was really the only thing keeping him and Iruka from being bullied by the other kids. Thankfully, the worst they did was talk about him behind his back, things that Iruka would never ever repeat to his face. They were way too mean.

They were things he thought of though when he was by himself and he hoped that Kakashi would never have to deal with that like he was. It was frustrating enough to be called those names to your face by the people Mizuki hung out with but it was another thing to find that they might be right.

"Hey." There was a flash when Iruka looked up.

"Kakashi!" He snapped but his friend was already stashing his cellphone back into his back and snapping the door shut. "Delete that!"

"Oh, no. I already closed the door." Kakashi grinned and headed off to probably some smarty science class while Iruka was left alone by his locker with cheeks on fire. He was already embarrassed enough by the time he finally got his books out and started for math class.

As he started down the hall though, a group of people came into view. Mizuki's flashy chain was the brightest of the group's and the others who tried to copy him were dulled in comparison. It was easy to stop them and Iruka quickly snapped around to detour, nervously hoping they didn't see him as he clutched his textbook to his chest.

"Happy birthday, butt slut!" A voice called out and Iruka hurried faster to the stairs.

"Zabuza!" A teacher thankfully called out as Iruka sprinted up the stairs and out of sight.

Adrenaline and stress made his last class go by within seconds without giving Iruka time to plan at all. Not that Mister Hiruzen would have let his focus wander anyway.

After school was finally over, he and Kakashi were sprinting down the street to their houses even though Iruka's pants were falling and Kakashi was panting like a racehorse.

"Meet you at the store!" Iruka called behind him as Kakashi flopped onto his lawn with a squawk.

Taking that as an okay, Iruka raced to his empty home and flew up the stairs to his room. The mirror was telling him that he looked like a mess and he tried brushing his wild mess of hair into something more presentable.

What should he wear? He wanted to look rad, give a good impression. His closet was full of band shirts and jeans that were more like mom jeans than anything. The ones he was wearing now were the baggiest he had and if he showed up in mom jeans even Kakashi would laugh at him. They always made his butt look huge.

Whatever. He would wear his favourite pair of cargo pants and just go casual. No biggie. He could pretend he partied every weekend and that this was just a small get-together.

A little bit of plaid and a hat later, Iruka hurried back out of the house before anyone knew he was even there.

Kakashi showed up at the store about ten minutes after Iruka with wet spots on his khakis and when Iruka gave him a look, he shrugged, "What? They had grass stains."

"To the food!" Iruka led the way through and they started gathering supplies according to the list.

"Tell your parents?" Kakashi asked, ever the responsible one.

"Left them a note that I was sleeping at your place," Iruka replied, grabbing only the finest chips and pop for their cart of goodies even though Kakashi was eyeing him nervously. The topic was dropped and Iruka was thankful that he had such a good friend, knowing that Kakashi would have his back. They didn't have many chances to do things like this and he could tell Kakashi was just as excited as he was.

Their cart wasn't exactly full but they had what Iruka had budgeted for including the pizza they would order later, both jittery and nervous for the night ahead. Backpacking their way back, Iruka was so nervous that he didn't notice the way Kakashi was walking abnormally faster. It was mostly normal for Iruka to lag behind because one of them had jealously long legs. Not to mention the view. Kakashi was so tall and his hair always had that fluffy quality in the back that Iruka liked a million more times than the gel. What was that saying? Hate to see you leave but love to watch you go?

Anyway, the trees were nice too.

Hurrying up Kakashi's front steps after him, Iruka was once again astounded to walk into such a beautiful home. Two stories of hardwood, glass and marble were rare in this area but Kakashi's dad was always away for a reason. The house was one to behold. Spiral stairs curved up to the second floor and a set curled down under it to the basement where they would so party.

"Let's go up to my room." Kakashi abruptly said as they walked in, dropping his bag and taking the stairs two at a time.

"Oi! Wait for me!" Iruka called, almost tripping over his own pants on the way up. Panting and slowing down, he followed the path he knew that led to the open door of Kakashi's bedroom. Dark navy walls covered in posters of skies and stars, Kakashi's room was full of model planes and spaceships that all spoke volumes of Kakashi's unspoken love for space and the final frontier.

Standing between his bed and the desk on the other side of the room, Kakashi was holding a box covered in wrapping paper of his favourite show Totally Spies and tied neatly with a green ribbon.

"Happy birthday," Kakashi said nervously and Iruka was glowing with just the gesture. He almost didn't move until Kakashi nodded him over to his bed. "Gonna open this or not?"

With slow careful hands, Iruka pulled on the ribbons until they fell onto the bed between them. Taking his time on carefully peeling the beautiful wrapping paper off, Kakashi groaned, "You're so slow!"

"And rip this gold? Hell no!" Iruka grinned, relishing Kakashi's squirming until the paper finally fell away to reveal a shoebox. Inside was a collection of things that made Iruka shake with excitement; his favourite candies, a handbook to pranking, a Backstreet Boys CD and a brandless CD case that had Kakashi's handwritten across the front.

"Iruka's Jams," He read out breathlessly and Kakashi grinned across the bed from him.

"I made you a mix. For when you get your discman back."

"Mom said next week," Iruka grinned happily and jumped up from the bed. "Can we play it now? On your system?"

"Of course!" Kakashi got up as Iruka neatly replaced the box's lid and made sure it was safe and sound on Kakashi's bed.

Down the first flight, they grabbed the goodies and started down the stairs to the basement when Iruka saw that the basement was already decorated head to toe in streamers and balloons.

Arms weak and chest aching, he wheezed on the steps, "Kakashi."

Winking through his glasses, Kakashi dropped his bags on the roundtable in the back and came up to take the present from Iruka's dead hands. "Couldn't let you have a boring party."

"How did you…?" Iruka mumbled as he stepped down onto the soft carpet floor and dragged his bags to the table.

"Did it last night. Thought you might ask me to hang out anyway." Kakashi said as he started to power up the expensive sound system that was wired to play through the speakers around the basement.

Cheat burning in fondness, Iruka watched Kakashi bend over to hit switches and tried to pretend that the heartbeat that ran through his entire body was just from the sweet gesture. It definitely wasn't from the way Kakashi bent over. Totally not.

Music cut through his thoughts and Kakashi grinned at him as his favourite songs started playing. As they unpacked the food and started setting things up, the music just kept getting better and until they were singing along and goofing off. They snacked and even put on the television in the meantime while they waited for pizza.

Iruka was surprised his parents hadn't called Kakashi's place yet. He was relieved by the time the pizza came and there was no call. Hopefully that meant that they weren't angry he wasn't going to be home. They only had plans to go out for supper on Saturday so it made sense.

"Hey."

"Mhm?" Kakashi hummed over a book.

"Do you really think puberty will only stop at thirty?" Iruka anxiously asked to a chuckle.

"Nah, it'll probably last longer."

Kakashi's feet were promptly kicked.

"I'm joking," He whined and notice the pout Iruka was putting on and anxiety behind it. "Before you know it, we'll be adults and able to do what we want."

"And be what we want." Iruka agreed dreamily, not having a clue what he wanted to be at all but hoping he'd be successful and rich.

"We could have our own places." Kakashi's mind was far gone and Iruka listened as he explained a dream Iruka had heard so many times over. "A little house in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees."

"I'll make you one," Iruka grinned jokingly but Kakashi was so hooked on his dream.

"Promise?

"Promise."

They faded away into their own thoughts at the idea of being independent people with freedom and no school. Iruka hoped that meant he wasn't as awkward or weird. He just wanted to be happy and have tons of friends to hang out with, ones he didn't have to impress with pranks.

"Wow," Iruka awed at the pranking handbook as they ate on the huge basement couch. "This thing even has sneezing powder."

"If you use that on me, I'll kill you," Kakashi warned but Iruka smirked.

"Don't worry, you baby." He wasn't thinking of Kakashi at all. There were some people in school for really deserved it, Mizuki's buddies to name a few. Besides, Kakashi already had to deal with a million allergies that had him sneezing constantly. Speaking of guests, they should maybe be there soon. Iruka wondered. "What time is it?"

"Almost seven." Kakashi said after a check of his watch.

When Iruka hummed impatiently, Kakashi mused back, "Should we put up some lights, maybe?"

"Do you have a disco ball?" Iruka asked cheekily and Kakashi shrugged.

"You can check the closet and see." Iruka was already on his feet and heading to the closet tucked under the stairs, tugging on the light to find no disco ball in plain sight.

"Liar." Iruka mumbled.

Kakashi coming up behind him suddenly said, "Why would I have a disco ball?"

"I don't know!" Iruka wheezed as he clutched his chest. "You said you had lights and didn't say you didn't have one! God, you scared me."

Pushing past Iruka's antics, Kakashi pulled down a box and they started going through it and pulling out strands of multi-coloured lights that were probably meant for the holidays.

They had just plugged in the lights when the doorbell rang.

In shock, they stood there for a second until Iruka burst into action.

"They're here!" He was already up the stairs by the time Kakashi finally realised what was happening.

When Iruka opened the door, he was half relieved and half disappointed to see Anko standing there sweetly in a different short skirt and a crop top that definitely revealed too much skin for their age. Behind her, a bunch of her friends were wearing similar clothes with the same bright, shimmering makeup.

"Iruka," She called sweetly and he stepped aside with a grin to let them in.

"Hey, girls. The party's downstairs." He guided and Anko patted his shoulder.

"Rad," They started down the stairs and Iruka was about to close the door when it bounced back and almost hit him in the face.

"Whoa," A voice on the other side made Iruka froze and he slowly peeled it open to find a group of guys walking up the steps behind Mizuki who was rubbing his shoulder. He was cocky when he asked, "Uninviting us, Umino?"

His smirk made Iruka very afraid and nervous but not in a bad way. The guys behind Mizuki did though. Their baggy jeans and chains were all trademarks of their clique and Iruka tried to calm himself from feeling embarrassed for even trying to look cool like them because he felt like he was a child compared to them.

He was thirteen now though and this was his party. Squaring his shoulders, he said in a the chillest voice he could muster, "Sorry, come on in."

"Thanks." Mizuki stepped inside and Iruka could see him studying the place with his cool stare as if rating everything with his eyes. Iruka was kind of glad his parents didn't let him have a party. His house wasn't as cool as Kakashi's.

"Nice place," Mizuki's remark was a needle to his stress balloon and Iruka didn't even care when the rest of Mizuki's friends ignored him.

"The party's downstairs." The guys followed his hint and headed down with right behind them. The music downstairs had been changed to something more mainstream. Iruka noticed that Kakashi was stiffly sitting on the couch with his hands curled into his khakis but Iruka noticed that the girls were giggling. That was a good sign at least.

Like flies, the guys immediately swarmed around the food and Iruka didn't really know where to put himself until one of Anko's friends called him over to where the girls had started dancing.

"Iruka," She said secretly. "We brought you a gift but it's a secret, okay?"

"Huh? Oh, you didn't have to." He flushed but she smirked at him.

"No, you'll like it," She assured and the music suddenly got louder and Iruka found himself on the couch a few minutes later next to Kakashi, sweating from the dancing and feeling dizzy from the coloured lights.

"Hey," Iruka nudged his catatonic friend and Kakashi jolted out of whatever state he was in but Iruka could tell he wasn't feeling too good about there being so many people there of that he didn't know them too well. "You okay?"

Kakashi opened his mouth but his words were swallowed by cheers as someone in the group finished a bottle of pop in one sip.

"I'm just gonna go up for air," Iruka could barely hear Kakashi's voice in his ear but he nodded and watched Kakashi leave as the others chapped.

"Okay everyone!" Anko clapped her hands and grinned excitedly, looking around at everyone with the bottle in her hands. "Let's play a game!"

Some of the guys groaned but a lot of the girls cheered in their place.

"Let's play," Anko sang as she pretended to think. "Seven minutes in heaven!"

The room erupted in giggles but Iruka's heart dove for the worst. Seven minutes? In a closet with someone? He hadn't even had his first kiss; he didn't even know what you'd do for seven minutes.

Everyone was giggling or nervously getting into the circle that Anko was waving them into and Iruka found himself sitting between two girls he barely knew. At the end, Anko was grinning as she explained conspiratorially, "This is Anko's Special Seven. Instead of just picking people, we're going to spin the bottle to see who goes first. The person goes into the closet so that their partner is a surprise. We spin until it's boy-girl."

What? Iruka barely understood the rules but soon enough everyone was giggling as Anko did the honours. The bottle spun for and for a heart-stopping moment it almost landed on him but thankfully it titled just to a girl next to him and the group erupted into catcalls as someone produced a tie and the girl was ushered into the closet. The music was turned up, bottle spun and the stressful moment passed as one of the quieter guys was picked and everyone held back giggles.

For a whole seven minutes, Iruka watched as the other kids listened intently through the loud music for any noise at all. By the door, one of them was grinning and holding back chuckles until a watch went off. The door was thrown open and out walked two teens. The girl was blushing terribly and the guy had sicky, sparkling pink lip gloss all over his lips. It was obvious they had made out but the dread Iruka had been feeling bubbled up again. Every time the bottle spinned, his heart cringed and he wanted to throw up.

He silently hoped he wouldn't ever get picked but luck was not on his side. After another pair, the bottle landed right on him and he stared in disbelief until he was hauled up by his armpits and manhandled by the other guys into the closet while the others cooed as he was blindfolded.

The door slammed shut and the music was turned way up until Iruka couldn't hear a thing. His heart was beating too loud in his ears anyway. He was beginning to panic especially as there was a loud shout he couldn't understand. There was what sounded like chanting and he pressed his back up against the shelves, unconsciously trying to hide as they got louder and louder.

He almost jumped when the door was opened and shut just as quickly. He couldn't see what was happening but a body suddenly hit him and the other person steadied themselves against him in the dark.

He couldn't tell who it was but they were very close and he could feel them pressing close. The rest of the world didn't seem to matter in that tiny moment because he started to get a sense for what kind of body was in front of him. And he could tell it wasn't a girl. He was alone in a closet with a guy and his heart was racing along to the music because the other person was holding onto him tightly. They knew Iruka was a boy, right? They knew what this game was, right? Why were they holding Iruka so closely? Didn't they know what this game was and what they were supposed to do?

His question was quickly answered by the hands on his arms sliding up. They traveled over his shoulders and barely grazed his neck. Shivers ran over his skin and the hands were cupping his jaw, tilting his head back and Iruka felt like he was on fire. Skin cold, the fingers were hotter than his boiling blood and his muscles trembled as if knowing before Iruka did about what was coming. The music in the background fell away as Iruka's senses fully focused on the person in front of him and the way they were getting closer and closer. Painfully slowly, Iruka could feel their hot breath on his lips and the faint smell of gum moving in until his heart stopped.

Soft and tender, Iruka finally understood what it felt like to kiss another human being. It was just a press of lips, more than grazing but not enough to call it passionate. His head was still spinning though and he couldn't stop thinking about how he was glad it wasn't a girl.

And then his heart stopped for real because light was suddenly flashing with the telltale sounds of a cell phone camera going off. Immediately, he recoiled from everything, ripped off the tie around his eyes and was blinded by the flash of cellphones. There was laughing and suddenly everyone was running out with calls over their shoulder, "Gay!"

The basement was empty but the music was still playing after the thunder of footsteps had passed. The lights still glowed. The balloons were mostly popped. Kakashi had slowly pulled off the blindfold that was around his eyes. Iruka couldn't look him in the eyes but he could see the red embarrassment on his neck and cheeks.

The calls rolled around in his head and he didn't know what to say but Kakashi cut him off by walking right out. He didn't know why, but it made the tears in his eyes roll down his cheeks. It felt like everything was crushed and Iruka couldn't stand the music anymore but he couldn't go upstairs and face Kakashi so he slammed the closet door shut with him inside.

The tears were flowing freely now and he couldn't stop them no matter how hard he wiped and he couldn't see. Tripped up by his own pants, his back suddenly hit the shelves hard and he slid down to the floor, things raining down onto him.

Once the avalanche had stopped, he couldn't help but feel like he had hit rock bottom. He hated this. Being thirteen was no different than any other year. He wished he was older. That he was taller. He wished he was thirty, then he wouldn't be the awkward mess he was now.

The catalyst to his crisis though was the thin book that hit him square on the head and the trails of dust that followed. With sneeze dust in his hair and itching his nose, Iruka looked down on the book of pranks in his lap. The tears started to boil over.

But instead of crying, he sneezed.

The closet was gone.

The house was gone.

Everything was different.


	2. Oops I Did It Again

It was a ceiling that was that ugly speckled tile and fluorescent lighting that made him realise that his head hurt a lot. Turning his head over, Iruka confirmed that he definitely wasn't in a basement. He sat up slowly and his dizzy and confused mind saw that he was in a hospital room.

A white sheet was bunched up around his hips, there was a cup of water on a rolling side table near him and the worst thing was the IV in his arm. Gross, gross, horrible, not good. Getting the shot at school had been a pain last year but this was a million times worse because it was taped into his freaking arm.

Okay, he had to calm down. He must have bumped his head and Kakashi probably overreacted and called an ambulance. No biggie. He just had to find Kakashi and everything would be okay. Oh, god, what was he going to tell his parents?

Kakashi. Despite his confusion, recent memories pulled through and his lips tingled.

His best friend has kissed him.

Iruka couldn't understand why or how it happened but he knew that Mizuki's friends had something to do with it. Kakashi's embarrassed and ashamed face before he ran off was burned into the back of Iruka's mind. He had to find Kakashi. He had to sort things out and find those stupid punks who thought they could get away with that. They had pictures on their phones and if the rest of the school found out or rumours spread, their lives were going to get a lot more difficult.

As much as he admired Mizuki, his taste in friends sucked ass. At least Mizuki could be reasoned with on some levels, hopefully.

That was the plan then. Step one: find and fix things with Kakashi. Step two: find and fix things with Mizuki. Then fix things with the parents. But first, breaking out of the hospital unseen.

Looking for something that looked like it called a nurse, there was an ache in Iruka's chest that crept up and made him doubt that plan.

What would he even say? Sorry that you kissed me and regretted it?

Thinking of that hurt, as much as Iruka didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to think about what he really wanted and how much he didn't want that moment to end because if he ignored it, then he wasn't admitting that the names he was called were true. He didn't want the bullies to be right and that there was something different about him, something weird.

"You're awake!" A voice cut through his thoughts.

Standing in the open doorway with a giant grin on his face, a guy walked in quickly and gave him a very unexpected but warm hug.

"We thought for a second you'd be a vegetable." The man mumbled into his ear as Iruka stayed frozen in surprise, the soft, short hair pressing against his cheek.

"Uh," He started as the man backed away and headed for a backpack thrown into a chair in the corner. Iruka slowly pointed out, "Sorry, I think you have the wrong room."

There was a bark of laughter and the blond started pulling clothes out of the bag.

"Like I haven't heard that one before. Nice one." And the guy just kept on moving around the room like he didn't have a care in the world but Iruka was not down for this weirdo at all. He'd had enough buttheads for one day.

"I… You've got the wrong room, dude." He insisted firmly, looking harder for any kind of call button. "Please leave or I'll call the nurse."

The man suddenly stopped in his tracks and his smile faded, looking Iruka over intently for the first time.

"Iruka. It's me." The guy said but Iruka had found the button and had it pressed down.

"You're confused, sir."

The guy did look confused, his brows pressed together as if not understanding what was going on and that he was in the wrong room. Iruka had seen movies and shows. He knew about stranger danger.

"Iruka," The man seemed genuinely hurt and confused which confused Iruka's feelings too. Who did this guy know his name?

At the door, a nurse stepped quickly into the room with a bright smile. "Finally awake!"

"Miss, I don't know this man." Iruka quickly explained and she put on the same infuriatingly confused look the blond dude had on.

"He knows me." The man butted in. "I'm his brother."

Iruka couldn't help but bark a laugh. What? What kind of weird joke was that?

"Hah, my brother is a baby. He's not even two yet." As soon as he said that, he saw the nurse's demeanor change from bright and smiling into blank and analysing

"You… Iruka… What do you remember?" The stranger's serious question made everything shift perspective into a more realistic approach. It pointed out the fact that Iruka couldn't remember how he got there. There was a hole in his memory and his gut dropped. He couldn't be serious.

"I…" Iruka didn't know what to say or do. He was supposed to just go with this crazy idea that this guy or man really was his baby brother. He needed proof. "Show me your ID."

This guy wouldn't go that far for a con… Would he?

A hand was immediately in a pocket, a wallet was pulled out and thrown into Iruka's surprised hands. The man calling himself Naruto nodded at him very seriously to open it, "Go ahead."

Iruka's blood felt cold and he shivered as dread built up higher and higher into his throat. Inside the wallet, the first windowed slot held a driver's license of the same blond and blue-eyed man in front of him with a name printed in very clearly legal writing: Naruto Uzumaki. The birth date was right. The address was the same as their home. Even the card had that shiny, holographic film over it that was almost impossible to replicate.

That was about when Iruka's brain shut down it's critical thinking department and laid off the rational mindset employees.

"My brother isn't even two yet," He repeated faintly as he quickly dropped the card as if it burned.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" The nurse immediately turned to the fake Naruto and they both went into the hall where Iruka couldn't see them. His heart dropped even harder and adrenaline threw him out of bed in search of a phone or anything he could use to call someone.

He needed mom and dad, anyone to help him really.

A rough search of the room told him that there wasn't a phone in sight but that the IV stand was very annoying and hard to roll around. He needed to find a phone. Any phone. Hospitals had pay phones, right? Wait, he didn't have money.

The wallet. Fake-Naruto's wallet was hiding under the sheet he'd thrown and it had cash in it. Perfect.

Taking the whole thing, Iruka carefully unplugged the stupid trolley his IV was attached to and started to drag it to the open door that the nurse and Naruto had walked out of. To his surprise and relief, they were out of sight and the only person down the hall was a nurse walking to somewhere else.

Did he need some sort of disguise? He didn't see any clothes. He'd have to take the needle out for that took and he was definitely not doing that no matter how cool it looked in the movies, oh no.

Whatever. He had just had to walk out and look like he belonged. That usually worked at school when he was avoiding teachers or detention.

With a confident step, he walked right out of the room and down the hall in the direction that looked the most promising. He didn't really know where to find payphones. He'd never been to this hospital by the looks of it. Or at least not this wing. He'd been to the local hospital a few times though when he broke his wrist. And arm. And nose. And arm again.

As he strode by a hallway, he noticed right before turning down it that a familiar nurse and man with blond hair were talking to a man in a white lab coat that looked like a doctor. Before they noticed him, he arched back onto the hall he was on and kept on hurrying until he turned a corner. No sounds or people calling his name, a good sign.

And luck was in his favour because he turned right into a hall of elevators and smashed the call button. A few minutes later, he was on the main floor, asking the nice secretary where he could find some payphones.

Off near the main doors that visitors came though, Iruka quickly dropped in change and dialed his home number.

"Please pickup, please." His dad's voice was a ray of sunshine but the realisation that it was just the answering machine was heartbreaking.

Slamming the phone down, Iruka picked up the change that fell and angrily held back tears as he paid and dialed again but this time a different number, one that he had memorised by heart and called every night.

"Hello?" A deep voice answered and Iruka was almost too stunned from confusion to reply.

"Ah, hi." He finally spat out and normal phone etiquette kicked in. "Sorry, is Kakashi there?"

"This is he." The man replied and Iruka didn't know what to say to that. It… Did kind of sound like Kakashi. Maybe the line was being weird.

"Kakashi," He started, looking around the hospital wing to make sure he didn't see anyone watching him. "Kakashi, it's me. I need your help."

"Who is this?"

This phone was definitely whack. "Kakashi. It's me. Iruka."

There was silence until the voice finally asked, "Iruka?"

"Yes, I need your help. I don't have much time." He hurried as he watched people step out of the elevator and his gut clenched when he saw the blond man, nurse and doctor hurrying out of the elevators towards with security guards on their tail. They spotted him as he rushed out. "I'm at a hospital and I don't know where I am and there's a man here who's calling himself Naruto. I can't get a hold of my parents. Please. I need your help."

"Iruka. Calm down."

The voice on the other end soothed after a bit but Iruka was already hanging up the phone with a quick, "Gotta go."

"Iruka!" Pseudo-Naruto called and the teen felt cornered between wanting to run but not wanting to cause any more trouble. Sadly, his empathy towards the concern on Not-ruto's face soothed him enough not to flee. "We've been looking all over for you!"

"Mister Umino." The doctor as he approached with the security guards circling towards the edges carefully. No one had ever called him a mister before. "You've been in a car accident and might be experiencing some confusion."

"Please, sir," The nurse continued. "We have water and food waiting upstairs for you. Come back to bed and we'll straighten things out together."

At the mention of food, Iruka knew that they were trying to convince him but it was working. He was starting to realise that he was extremely hungry and tired. He didn't know what they meant by car accident. That didn't explain the brother impersonator or much of anything. This man was a doctor though. That had to mean he was at least kind of trustworthy.

Kakashi had once told him that doctors were bound by a code to never do harm. That felt like a good enough reason to nod slightly and follow the doctor back to the elevators.

"I was in a car accident?" He asked as they got to their floor.

"Yup, it's on YouTube and everything." Naruto said and Iruka tilted his head.

"On what?"

Naruto bit his lip. "Never mind."

As they were walking towards the hospital room, the doctor finally said something in the mix of words Iruka didn't latch onto until then.

"You might also be experiencing some memory loss so we'll have to look into that."

"Memory loss?" He echoed and when he looked at Naruto, the man was looking right back at him, studying and watching him with sad eyes that made Iruka's brain stutter. As much as this guy was super old, there was a shred of doubt that was making itself known. Slowly, Iruka asked, "How… Old are you?"

"Eighteen." Naruto said without even hesitating.

"So, if you're eighteen," That meant that he would be… If it was memory loss.

He would be thirty.

Iruka was in his hospital room and looking in a mirror within seconds and for a second thought he was in the wrong room. It must have been an optical illusion. No, it had to be. The person in front of him was… Him. But different.

Jaw straight and nose sharp, the man in the mirror was handsome and rugged. In the hospital, this person looked strong with taut arms and completely adult without chubby cheeks and knobby knees. He did see resemblances though and he knew that scar anywhere. This was him. He poked the face. The less-squishy contact told him that this was real. This was him but... So much different and not just in age.

His hair was short. He had a moustache and a beard, the combo thing that he always found so cool and good-looking. It was so foreign and weird but the reflection moved with his movements. It was definitely him. He didn't look like himself though.

No, this was weird. He couldn't look anymore and snapped his head to find that everything was still weird.

Naruto was staring at him oddly, confused and weirded out just as much as he was.

"You…" Iruka muttered faintly, trying to piece together that this was real. It wasn't a dream. He wasn't in danger. This was what was happening now.

"Your brother said you're having trouble remembering him," The doctor was saying and Iruka could hear faintly as he asked, "Can you give me what might be your last memory before waking up?"

"My birthday." Iruka mumbled faintly as he kept his eyes on the ground, head spinning a little.

"That's not that bad," The nurse provided until Iruka continued.

"My thirteenth birthday."

The room went quiet for a minute before Naruto spoke, the words that sent everything spinning faster.

"About seventeen years ago."

Iruka didn't remember hitting the ground but when he came back to consciousness, the sky was dark out the window and the hospital room was quiet and calm.

Across the room, Naruto was staring into his hands as light shown up onto his face. He didn't notice right away that Iruka was awake and that left room to study. This guy who was apparently his baby brother was definitely looking more like a dad in Iruka's eyes. His bright hair looked fluffy and soft but his face in contrast sported facial hair that made him look kinda cool.

His clothes were weird though. He had a grey hoodie over an oversized white shirt with black sweatpants that had cargo pant pockets. It didn't look cold outside but there was a jean jacket over the back of his chair. Did he expect to wear that over a sweater? Odd.

"Hey," Naruto said when he realised Iruka was awake, standing and slowly walking over as he pocketed the thing lighting up his face.

"Hi," Iruka couldn't help but respond stiffly. This was awkward.

Naruto scratched his neck anxiously, "You've been out for a bit. Um… They have food waiting if you're hungry."

A few minutes later, Iruka was chewing on surprisingly good hospital food as Naruto watched in silence.

"So," Iruka started, trying to find a way to stop everything from feeling so awkward. "I was in a car accident?"

Naruto nodded and fished out the device he'd pocketed earlier. "Yeah, it was pretty bad. Wanna see?"

"See?" Iruka was thinking of photographs. He didn't really want to see a car accident if there was blood and everything.

"Yeah, here. I'll show you. I recorded it." Naruto didn't pull out pictures though. Instead, he brought the light thing over to Iruka's face and almost blinded him with the light for a second.

"Whoa, wait. What is that?" Iruka demanded, putting out his hand to ward off the light.

The way Naruto froze told him that maybe that was a loaded question.

With a deep breath, Naruto hummed, "That's true. You don't remember anything much. Well, uh, this is a phone. It's a smart one."

"A phone?" Iruka's mind ran through Nokia and Sony phones that he was used to; the thick, buttoned kind but that? The glowing rectangle in Naruto's hand? No, that looked like it was straight out of a sci-fi movie.

"Technology has gotten super better, Iruka." Naruto explained softly with a strained chuckle. He brought it closer and tried explaining the capabilities of it but there was so much that Iruka had a hard time taking everything in. After a few minutes, Naruto decided to just show Iruka the accident.

"It's like a mini TV or computer," Naruto explained as he tapped on the screen and an image appeared. "You can even record videos and play them back."

When he tapped again, the image turned into a video that looked so realistic. It was as if you were really there in the crowd as they cheered and clapped. And then two cars came racing around a corner. One of them barely even grazed another but it sent the other car swerving and spinning in circles at top speed. There was a huge mess of movement that Iruka couldn't make sense of until the dust and dirt cleared, leaving only one car on the road. Emergency personnel immediately were onthe road and prying open the vehicle to pull out a body in a racing jumpsuit.

"You weren't really hurt, thankfully."

"That was me?" Iruka asked, barely comprehending that he could drive now.

There was a look he gave Iruka that looked sad, disappointed by that. It made Iruka feel sad too for a second before Naruto grinned and sat down on the bed, swiping through his phone and showing Iruka pictures. "The one and only. You've been racing for about ten years now. Been to almost everywhere. Won a couple medals too. Le Mans, the World Rally."

"Racing?" He was into cars? He admitted, "I've never really cared about cars."

"Yeah," Naruto mused before saying thoughtfully, "I think you only really started after you got your first car."

"My first car?"

A car. That was something Iruka had never even dreamed of. He'd never worked a day in his life or ever had enough money to use on himself let alone buy a vehicle.

"I've had more than one?"

Naruto broke out into laughter at his surprise and started talking about cars he'd had and things Iruka didn't understand at all. There was talk about different kinds of cars and which ones Iruka liked better and ones he regretted buying. The talking really just kept going on and on. Wow, this guy had lungs.

It was so tiring as much as this guy was super nice. Kinda sarcastic too.

"Naruto, I need sleep," He finally managed to interrupt and Naruto nodded w with a softly smile.

"Of course," He hopped off the bed and was about to walk out before asking, "Do you want me to sleep here tonight? The nurses offered a cot."

"No, I'm…" Iruka trailed off as he looked around the cold, lonely room before thinking to himself that he'd never been alone at a hospital before. Either Minato or Kushina would stay with him normally…

"Would you mind?" Before Iruka could ask anymore, Naruto nodded.

"Don't mind if I do."

A cot was rolled in a few minutes later and Iruka somehow got the hospital bed to lay flat enough to sleep. This all felt so surreal.

He was thirty.

He had missed seventeen years of his life.

As he quickly fell asleep, he couldn't help but feel kind of excited but sad at the same time.

"Mom and dad are on vacation," Naruto said at breakfast in the cafeteria the next morning when Iruka asked about their whereabouts.

"Oh," Not the response he was looking for hit it did explain how they weren't there. It stopped him from feeling so alone a bit.

"They'll be back in a few days," Naruto reassured as he chewed happily. "We'll go see them once they get back. Pick them up at the airport."

"Cool." Iruka hummed, watching people outside the cafeteria window. It was spring and the trees were so green and bright, hanging above the pathway that led from the parking lot and along the building to the front desk. He saw the different cars and wondered how much his thirty-year-old self knew about cars. Naruto said he knew how to make modifications to cars and stuff. He wondered if he would somehow know those things too. If that's how brains worked.

Lost in thought, he watched people drive in and out of the parking lot as Naruto started talking more about food and the hospital, general observations. A few people left together and a plain car pulled in as Naruto started talking about school.

"You're almost done high school?" He asked.

"Well… Kinda." Naruto squirmed, seeming as though he knew what Iruka was going to say or how Iruka wanted to reprimand him.

"Kinda what?"

"Well," Naruto chewed on his lip as he thought of his words. A flash of pale hair caught Iruka's eye in the distance but Naruto found his wording. "I actually have this thing I'm working on."

"Yeah?"

"Well, I've been trying to start up my own organization. A non-profit to help kids like me who have too much energy or need to redirect their attention, y'know?" Iruka could see the passion in Naruto's eyes and the soft vision that was forming, an inspiring fire that felt so strong even though Naruto was being so modest about it

"What would happen there?" Iruka prodded and Naruto gladly gave in, excited for the chance to talk about it.

"Well, I was thinking physical activities mainly but to have these creative writing and thinking groups for them to join." Naruto suddenly paused in his wording, staring up behind Iruka with eyebrows raised and confused.

"Kakashi?"

Iruka's heart leapt in his chest.

How could he forget? His best friend. Who he had called yesterday in a crazy panic because he didn't know what the heck was going on.

And his only connection to his life before this mess. Someone warm and familiar who he knew like the back of his hand and had spent countless hours with. Kakashi was the reluctant Bonnie to his Clyde. Or the Clyde to his Bonnie. Whichever one had been smarter, that was Kakashi. The same Kakashi he had kissed at his birthday.

In seconds, his hope was quickly replaced by fear and then shock when he finally turned to the person approaching them.

A tall man with silver hair slowly strode towards them with a leather bag across one of his shoulders and his hands in his jeans. At first, Iruka had no idea who this handsome stranger was until reality came crashing down. It was a sight Iruka had never even thought of in his wildest dreams. Kakashi wearing jeans was a mystery in itself. The layers of leather jacket, sweater and shirt all kind of made his picture of a man who looked casual and cool. It was almost the complete opposite of the nerdy Kakashi he knew but so similar at the same time. It was intimidating just to watch his confident but lazy gait but at the same time made his heart kind of race.

He almost didn't recognize him with his broad shoulders and fluffed hair that was free to be as wild and breezy as it wanted. This older Kakashi looked like he was at ease with himself and comfortable in his body in a way that was reserved for athletes and super models. It oddly reminded Iruka of something very specific that made him blush and want to die inside for making that connection. Jaw sharp and face calm, Kakashi looked like an underwear model in clothes. He pushed away the thought even though it sat at the back of his mind like a trapped fly.

Dark eyes met his and Kakashi slowed his walk, keeping a distance as he asked in a voice that was husky and far deeper than Iruka had ever heard except on the phone, "You called?"

That was about when his insides started to sink. It was the straight line his mouth had though that made Iruka aware that something was different. His straight tone threw Iruka off completely, the way he barely blinked too. And the distance he was putting between Iruka and himself as if Iruka was dangerous, untrusted.

"Yeah," Iruka managed, standing from their table as the impulse to hug fizzled away. "Sorry, I was really confused yesterday."

"Guess you don't need me then." Kakashi quickly shut down as he backed away, nodding to Naruto as if Iruka wasn't even there. "See ya."

"Kakashi, wait." Iruka called out through the blast of pain through his chest. He didn't know what was going on or what had happened but as Kakashi turned his back, it was starting to seem like… "I…"

"You called him?" Naruto asked in a slightly horrified tone that was starting to confirm Iruka's worst fear. Before Iruka could say anything else, his brother stood quickly and jogged after Kakashi's long strides as panic rose in Iruka's chest. This couldn't be happening, no.

Naruto threw an arm around Kakashi's tall shoulders, stopping him in his tracks and started talking to the other man who was looking more and more annoyed by the minute. He was annoyed. Kakashi was annoyed with him. Iruka was too far away to hear their conversation that was probably Naruto explaining what was going on but he was already worked up from the look in Kakashi's eyes. It was like they were strangers or worse. It didn't seem like they were enemies but Iruka didn't know what to think. It was like they weren't friends anymore.

Like an automated response, his eyes welled up and he immediately tried to repress them so that he didn't look like a crybaby. He couldn't cry in a hospital. No, he was supposed to be a thirty-year-old man not a child.

Biting his lip, he kept his eyes open and tried the looking at the ceiling, a trick his mom taught him. It kind of helped. At least now he could see the confused look on Kakashi's face. Now that the serious and annoyed look had faded in confusion, he looked so much more like the Kakashi Iruka knew and that kind of made things worse. In frustration, he tried to turn away so they wouldn't see how much of a baby he was being but he realised that the other tables in the public cafeteria were staring.

Oh no, he needed to not be here.

He started to walk but a tug on his arm reminded him he was attached to a cable and he quickly grabbed his fluid stand, dragging it behind him. He needed a minute to himself and thankfully the people he supposedly knew didn't notice that their table was now empty.


	3. I Want It That Way

Telling himself to breathe, he sniffed away the heat that was making his nose drip. The ceiling trick was starting to work as he walked down one of the halls to the elevators. His face was still burning but at least he wasn't in a cafeteria of people staring at him.

"Iruka!"

With a jerk, Iruka stopped and saw Naruto's strained smile coming towards him from the cafeteria with an uneasy Kakashi in tow. At least he didn't look annoyed with Iruka anymore. There was curiosity and his eyes were carefully watching, looking for something.

Naruto hung back as Kakashi stepped up with a studying eye. Iruka could tell he wasn't hiding his red cheeks and runny nose from anyone, especially Kakashi of all people. As much as he wanted to run away out of embarrassment, Iruka stood his ground as Kakashi stepped in even closer until they could really speak.

"You don't remember anything?" His voice was softer now but still Iruka wasn't used to that deep rumble. It made him flinch as if he were in trouble.

"Sorry," Iruka repeated, trying to pretend like he was okay but looking at the ground. "One minute I was thirteen… Well, the next I woke up in a hospital. Like, it really feels like no time has passed at all. The doctor said it might be amnesia and I've never had amnesia so like, this really sucks, you know?"

The more he blabbered on, the more Kakashi softened and relaxed. There was even the hint of a smile that was very encouraging, as if the last few minutes hadn't brought Iruka to the brink of tears.

"Sorry that I don't remember anything. I mean, seventeen years gone? I knew I was forgetful but maybe age is hitting me." He joked and there was even a deep chuckle that made Iruka kind of proud.

"Yeah," Kakashi finally sighed as he shifted, avoiding eye contact as he reminded, "Well, a lot's changed since you were thirteen."

"Yeah," Iruka agreed awkwardly, gripping his fluid stand for support. There was only the noise of the hospital and Naruto swaying on his feet in the background. "I kinda guessed that by the everything."

With a tilt of his head, Kakashi asked, "You really don't remember anything, do you?"

There was an underlying concern that made Iruka feel warm inside.

"I wish I did." Iruka bit his lip. "Then I'd know why you're so weirded out by me."

The dip in Kakashi's brows told Iruka that it was a long story as Kakashi took a deep breath and quickly changed the subject. "You should probably be resting."

As responsible as ever.

After a quiet walk, they ended up back at Iruka's room as Naruto explained the situation in better detail, talking about the race and even showing the video of the crash on his phone. Kakashi had said he'd seen it though which peaked Iruka's interest.

Somehow, Iruka found out that Kakashi was actually Naruto's tutor since Naruto wasn't great at studying. There was no mention of Iruka though and he wondered where he fit into all of this… Unless he didn't.

He wondered more about his thirty-year-old self and what he was like now that he was an adult. Did this mean he have his own place? He apparently was a racing driver if that was how you called them which meant he definitely could drive now. Maybe he had a car. Would he still know how to drive them intuitively or was it a memory-based thing?

Man, this was weird.

"You dropped out of college though when the racing started to pick up." Naruto mentioned as they hung out in his room.

"Dropped out?" Iruka demanded. Dropping out implied that Iruka had gotten in, something that he hadn't thought of doing. He hadn't really thought of jobs until now that he apparently had one. "I dropped out of college?"

"Yeah, you almost graduated too," Naruto hummed to Iruka's disbelief. Should he be mad at himself for not finishing or proud he'd even gotten that far? In the chair by Iruka's bed, Naruto patted Iruka's leg encouragingly with a grin. "But then you found racing, I think. I can't remember too well. I was only like eight."

It sounded like racing was a really big thing for his older self apparently. Either that or maybe he hated school which would be no surprise at all. There was so much he had to catch up on and remember about himself.

"Ah, Mister Umino," The doctor appeared with his clipboard and reassuring smile.

There were no internal injuries according to the scans and tests they'd been running since Iruka had woken up. He didn't have a brain aneurysm, whatever that was. There was no contusion or hematoma and everyone else looked relieved to hear so Iruka was relieved too even though he didn't know what either of those were.

"We're thinking that the best course of action now would be to let you go home and rest for a bit. That maybe being in a familiar place will help jog your memory."

"Okay," Iruka nodded. He was excited to go home to his room and his posters. Maybe he had new posters now. Oh! What if they were signed? And what new bands was he into?

As his mind drifted off, Naruto gave the doctor a warm handshake and thanked him. The doctor left them after explaining, "The nurses will be here shortly to help you out of that IV. If you start experiencing any kind of pain or dizziness, come back immediately and we'll do some more tests."

After he left, Naruto started getting his things together around the room as Kakashi leaned against the window watching it all happen. Iruka wondered what was going on inside his head to give him that wistful stare in his eyes.

"Here you go." Naruto handed over a pile of clothes and other things that looked like they belonged to someone else. "They cut up your jumpsuit so you might have to buy a new one."

There was a pair of jeans, a plain shirt and a leather jacket that all looked very adult. There wasn't much personality at all in them and Iruka couldn't help but think that the jeans looked small at first glance. There was even a belt in there. He'd noticed too that the boxers he was wearing were similarly plain. Wow, his adult self was boring.

A nice nurse came by a few minutes later to free him of his medical chains and have him a prescription for painkillers. Finally, he was able to get rid of the scrubs they put him in and into some normalish clothes. The shirt was super soft at least but the real problem was the jeans.

They were tight. Not the tight like he'd expected. No, these were tighter than the tightest mom jeans. His butt was suction cupped at every angle and his junk felt like it was being strangled. And that was after he'd managed gotten them on! Jumping, squirming and swearing his mouth off, he'd even hit his funny bone. Naruto had even asked if he was okay at one point.

Now he knew why there was a belt. The pants would probably snap off and kill someone.

Half worried they would rip if he moved, he stepped out to concerned stares.

"Why are these so tight?" He demanded.

From the other end of the room, there was a familiar snort and Kakashi was covering a smile. Naruto on the other hand looked confused.

"Well, they're skinny jeans," Naruto said blankly but Iruka could see Kakashi was still laughing at him, a welcomed change.

"Come on, you two." Kakashi finally said after they watched Iruka shuffle uncomfortably for a few minutes to get into sneakers. "I'll give you guys a lift back."

"Thanks, Kakashi!" Naruto grinned as they followed the older man out to the parking lot.

"Wait, you don't have a car?" Iruka asked Naruto as they walked and the boy defined Iruka's preconception of eighteen-year-olds having cars.

"Nah." Naruto smirked. "The ambulance attendants let me ride with you so I've kinda been stuck here. Helps to have a brother with a few cars but when he's unconscious..."

"Cars?" Iruka repeated and the very idea of having multiple cars blew his little mind. How much money did he have? Where did he keep them all? There definitely wasn't space in their driveway for more than two.

"And here's mine." Kakashi clicked his keys and a car flashed its lights a few spaces away. All the cars in the lot looked… Futuristic was the only word he could find other than cool.

"Mom and dad have a civic too." Iruka mumbled as he read the name of the same model on Kakashi's vehicle.

"They had a civic?" Naruto asked as he got into the back.

That left Iruka with shotgun for the first time in his life. Scrambling excitedly into the front seat, Iruka couldn't help but feel in awe at being able to see everything on the road for the first time. It made him realise that he would have been able to finally sit at the front if it was seventeen years ago. Now, he could drive. So crazy.

Iruka watched intently with his hands gripping his seatbelt as Kakashi methodically started the car and backed them out. With fluid motions of an experienced driver, Kakashi drove them out of the lot and into the city that surrounded them. It wasn't the small town that they'd grown up in. This city looked massive and so busy.

There were people everywhere and so many cars. Passing through lights, they slowly made their way through but when they pulled into the small parking lot of a huge apartment building, Iruka remembered that he was an adult. That meant he had his own place. And he mostly likely lived in his building.

So deep in awe, he almost didn't move when the car stopped.

Naruto had already thrown himself out into the fresh air but Iruka was at a standstill.

"Hey," Kakashi's voice shocked him to reality and he looked over to Kakashi's concerned gaze. His hair was so different. His words reminded Iruka that it was still Kakashi he was sitting next to. "You okay?"

With a deep breath, Iruka looked back at the brick building. "Yeah, was just expecting something more… Familiar."

Up the path to where Naruto was waiting at the door with a set of keys, they stepped into the clean building and took an elevator up to one of the last floors where Naruto led the way through to one of the last doors. Pulling out a set of keys, they stepped into the apartment and Iruka was greeted with what was the foundations of his current life.

Stepping into the entryway, they were immediately greeted by exposed brick and hardwood. There was a closet and a bench that had a collection of jackets and shoes inside. As they tugged off their shoes, Kakashi put a hand on Naruto's shoulder to hold him back as Iruka stepped down the main hall that led to the rest of the apartment for what felt like the first time.

The little hall led out into a main area that held a sparkling clean kitchen and a living room with a leather couch and the flattest TV Iruka had ever seen. There was a patio beyond it all that looked out onto the other tall buildings in the area and it all felt like a picture from a magazine. There were posters on the wall of maps and paintings that looked expensive. It was all so cool that Iruka almost didn't notice the winding metal staircase that led up to the bedroom. Just like downstairs, everything looked so cool and high tech. The bed was huge and the bathroom was full of glass and white stone.

"Wow," Iruka whispered under his breath as Naruto flopped onto the couch with a grin.

"Welcome back home!"

"I really live here?" Iruka asked in utter astonishment.

"Yup," Naruto confirmed. "Cost a lot of money apparently."

"How much?"

Naruto shrugged and mused in the most nonchalant fashion, "About a mill."

Iruka almost choked on his own spit at that, coughing and spluttering as Kakashi patted his back. "Careful."

"How could I afford all this?" Iruka strained, suddenly afraid to touch anything.

"Well, you've won a lot of races and stuff." Naruto gestured to a bookcase that Iruka hadn't really examined until then. Upon inspection, many awards and pictures were arranged to display placements in races he'd won. There were a few frames that showed himself leaning against a race car with a smug smirk on his face. It was surreal, like looking at the life of someone else.

"You've gotten lots of sponsorships too so that help pay the bills." Naruto said as he suddenly hopped up. "That reminds me. Lemme get your phone."

"My phone?" That's right. He was an adult with tons of money. Of course, he could afford a phone of his own. Instead of pulling out the type he was familiar with, Naruto fished from his backpack a sleek, black rectangle of glass and metal. When it was thrust into his hands, Iruka was almost too afraid to move as if it would break under his hands.

"Oh, that's right." Naruto showed him how to open the device and that there was a password to open it. There were things called applications that Iruka could use and he explained where the messaging function was. There was something called YouTube that had tons of videos to watch and other apps called social medias. It was all so much and that wasn't even touching the dozens of voicemails Iruka had pilling up to listen to.

After the onslaught of information, Kakashi stepped in calmly. "Just do some exploring by yourself when you have the chance."

"Okay," Iruka felt dizzy.

"Ah, Naruto," Kakashi started to shoo Naruto towards the door. "It's getting pretty late. I should probably take you home."

There was whining from Naruto but Iruka was relieved to have a bit of time to himself so he could process everything alone. The messages he had to read and listen to were waiting as well.

After watching them put on their shoes, Iruka saw them out the door and Naruto assured him they would be back.

"You've got my number in there if ever you need me." The boy winked and strode towards the elevator. Iruka was starting to like the guy even though he was very high energy.

"You know mine," Kakashi nodded and was about to turn and leave but Iruka quickly grabbed his coat.

He just had to make sure. "I can call?"

"Yeah."

"Promise?"

Kakashi's eyes met his and it was like nothing had changed and things were back to normal for a second before he nodded, "Yes."

With a smile, Iruka realised he was still gripping Kakashi's sleeve and watched as he disappeared down the hall into the elevator Naruto was holding open.

Closing the door to the apartment, Iruka pressed his back to the wood and would have slid to the floor but his jeans said no right about halfway down.

Minutes later, the jeans were finally ripped off and he padded through the apartment to the bedroom and flopped down to close his eyes for just a little bit. His head was spinning from all the information that seemed all too alien. A nap was all he needed.

"Beak up with your girlfriend," Someone singing woke him right up suddenly. He didn't know what time it was or who was singing but the voice was calling from somewhere in the sheets.

"Cause I'm bored," His cellphone. That's right. He had one of those now. The song wasn't that bad but the panic of missing a call had him throwing sheets off the bed until he heard a terrifying thunk.

"No, no," He pleaded but found the music didn't stop from the floor. The screen was shining bright in the dark of the room, reading a caller Iruka didn't recognize. He almost didn't know what to do but politeness kicked in and he answered, "Hello?"

"Finally, where the fuck have you been?" A man asked.

"Uh, the hospital?" Iruka said truthfully and the person on the other end scoffed.

"Hah, very funny. Get your ass down here." The phone suddenly hung up and Iruka was left staring at the screen. After a minute of trying to remember the password, Iruka finally got the code right and found that a lot of the messages he got were from this guy. Whoever 'Z' was, he was pissed the current Iruka was ignoring him.

Deciding the guy was super rude, Iruka ignored all the messages from him and focused on the others. Someone was wishing a quick recovery. Another was asking about colours? He couldn't really tell who most of them were. The only one he understood a bit was someone called Hiruzen who was apparently his manager telling him to rest and call him in a few weeks.

Huh, so weird. While scrolling through his phone and trying to figure out if there was anyone he knew, that was about the time that he started scratching.

Oh no. He'd forgotten about his face. Now though, he was hyper aware of the itchy thing touching his skin. The stupid beard that he'd somehow grown was making his skin feel so irritated.

How did thirty-year-old him do it? Grow this thing without feeling like his face was in a bush of poison ivy all the time? God, he just wanted this off his face.

Stumbling to the bathroom, he managed to dig out a razor and held it uncertainly up in the air.

How… How was he supposed to use this? He'd probably cut his face up a million times trying to get his face smooth again. Did he want to risk cutting himself for comfort?

Heck yes.

It was only after that painful experience did he realise that he should have used shaving cream. Even later, he realised that one of the things in his medicine cabinet was an electric razor that would have done the job for him without any pain.

Defeated, he whined himself to the kitchen with band aids covering his cheeks.

There wasn't any food in his kitchen. Not that he knew how to cook in the first place. Except maybe soup.

A lightbulb went off in his head though. He was an adult. Which means he had money. Which means he could order pizza.

Thanks to his new friend Google, his wallet and something called the Tap, he soon had pizza delivered right to his front door and was eating happily as he watched videos on the YouTube. So far, being an adult was pretty cool.

He was happily filling himself up and trying not to pick at his cuts when a new notification popped up on his phone. This time, it wasn't from a call or a text. It was from a different app.

'Hey baby'

Baby? He didn't remember hearing anything about being in a relationship. Tapping the message, he found himself in an app that had him dying on the inside. It looked it was a messaging app of some sort but Iruka could only see men messaging him. Tapping through, he came face to face with a picture. It was blurry and confusing but when Iruka realised what it was, he almost dropped his phone out of shock.

That couldn't be.

Glancing back to the phone, he realised it was what he thought it was and quickly clicked out of it. Embarrassed and horrified, he froze and couldn't move for a long while.

That couldn't have been it, right? He checked again. Sure enough, the picture was exactly what he thought it was of and when he went through other messages, he saw that this app was not just a messaging app. It was a very, very adult app. The messages he had gotten from these men were some of the dirtiest things he'd ever read in his life and the pictures he'd received were all of men's bodies. Oddly enough, he couldn't look away.

With trembling hands, he finally threw the phone away. No, this wasn't real. His older self probably just made a mistake somehow. He probably made a mistake and thought he'd been sending messages to girls.

Even that excuse sounded dumb in his head.

A quick search told him that he was definitely playing himself, according the app's description.

As panic bubbled up along with many other feelings and bodily functions he didn't want to think about, he closed the app and looked down at himself.

Fresh air was a good idea. He needed clothes first. Thankfully, he didn't just have skinny jeans. There was a pair of sweats that fit so they would do. He made sure to take his keys before rushing out and stepping into the afternoon.

A time check told him it was the next day. He'd slept in so late and for a second, he worried about being late for something. Wait a second. He was an adult now. He didn't have school.

That was the greatest news he'd heard all day.

Feeling around in his pockets, he found his keys, phone and wallet. There was so much possibility at his finger tips. He could do anything he wanted. No one could judge him, look down on him or tell him what to do. He had a city at his finger tips and there were so many things he could do that it was overwhelming. So, what did he come up with?

The movies. At least, that's what he did first. He went right up to the counter and asked what R rated movies were playing and saw the first one that the lady at the counter suggested. And boy did he regret it. Why was there so much blood? There had been a disturbing amount of sexist remarks too that really didn't make him feel comfortable. He kind of left the movies feeling gross and weirded out.

But there were other things he could do now. He could drink alcohol. When he went into the store, he'd picked up the first thing he saw and bought it. When the clerk asked for his card, he already had it ready.

Back at home, he put on the newest music and ceremoniously poured himself a glass of… Vodka? Yeah, that seemed like a thing that adults drank.

It smelled terrible though. He was hopeful that it would taste better than rubbing alcohol though. He was sorely disappointed.

Almost spitting it out, he'd struggled to even down the first sip but he'd made it somehow and left gross. God, it tasted so bad. How did adults drink this stuff? Maybe wine would have been better. Or some other kind. His mouth tasted gross though now.

Breaking out food he'd bought earlier, he downed almost a full thing of ice cream and opened ten different boxes of cookies. Surrounded by different foods, he got settled at the television and turned on a show that his parents would never let him watch: The Bachelorette. A show about one girl getting to choose the man of her dreams and he relished every moment he got to yell at the screen about how dumb the bachelorette was being or about how one guy sucked.

It was a grim reminder though about all the things he was trying to ignore though. There was a nagging at the back of his mind that kept saying things he didn't want to hear and it was starting to ruin his night. So, what if one of the guys was hot? He could think that way without being the G word.

Just because he thought Jason was hotter than the bachelorette didn't mean anything. He was super nice and he wasn't a bad guy. And he was alone, all by himself with no one to judge him to tell him what to do.

Swimming through shows and movies, he kept finding himself drawn to the dorky, sweet guys who were there to support the lead. It reminded him too much of his own life. Well, his past. They reminded him of Kakashi and he was starting to wonder.

Something had happened. Something had happened that split them apart and he wanted to find out what. What had his stupid older self done to push his own best friend away?

He wanted to find out what and that led him to calling Kakashi's place again. This time, he wasn't in a panic or confused. He was still kind of nervous though. He couldn't explain why his heart pounded as the phone rang and stopped when Kakashi's voice answered, "Hello?"

"Ah, Kakashi! Sorry if I'm bothering you."

Voice rough and deep, Kakashi chuckled, "Don't worry about it. What's up?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out."

There was a hum. "Well, I have to get up early for work tomorrow… But I can come over tomorrow night if you're up for it. How does six sound?"

Score.

"Sure, that sounds rad!" Iruka grinned excitedly, holding back the urge to kick out and possibly break something.

Kakashi's chuckle on the other end was warm and he said softly, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See ya." Tapping the call closed, Iruka flopped onto the couch in success and let his mind drift off to what he would have to ask tomorrow.

The rest of the night left him comatose from show watching and food eating. It left him feeling gross and unproductive in the morning though which was a weird feeling. He was starting to get bored. There was an infinite number of things he could do but none of them were coming to mind.

He eventually went out into the world and found that the current style and fashions were interesting to say the least. Most of it was comfy to wear when he went to try stuff on in the dressing room. He even treated himself to a big, comfy sweater that had a funky pug on the front. As much as he liked the sweater though, it wasn't one he was proud enough to wear to hang out with Kakashi.

It was weird to feel nervous to hang out with his best friend. The last night he remembered before waking up in the hospital was at the front of his mind though. He hoped that wasn't the reason they stopped being friends. He didn't know that the others were pranking Kakashi. The poor guy probably thought he was kissing a girl. Iruka had been super short at that age after all.

If that incident had been the reason though, how did Kakashi know where he lived? Naruto hadn't guided Kakashi at all to his building. It must have been something in the last few years. He'd have to ask Naruto about it later.

The ringtone from his phone called him back to reality and he hurried down to find Kakashi standing in the lobby with his phone lighting up his face. For a second, Iruka couldn't help but be reminded that this person was a man. It felt a little weird to be in a man's body too with his mind still operating under thirteen-year-old standards.

He'd missed so much and it kind of made him sad.

Kakashi perked up at the sound of his steps and gave a small smile. "Hey, ready to eat?"

"Sure," Iruka tried to forget about the awkwardness but as Kakashi drove them through the city, he felt it creep up more and more and it slowly turned into a burning sadness. It hurt especially when Kakashi parked them on the street and they walked up to a small, casual restaurant that served ramen.

"You used to love this place," Kakashi said as they took their seats and Iruka wanted so much to remember coming here. There was something in Kakashi's nostalgic smile that said many fun times took place here.

"I did?" Iruka asked. When Kakashi nodded into the menu, Iruka continued, "Did we come here together a lot?"

Hesitation stopped Kakashi from answering right away. It looked like he was holding something back behind that shrug, "Yeah…"

Iruka didn't push any further. It seemed like a sore subject by the way his responses were so short and he switched the topic.

"So, apparently I drive cars. What do you do?"

Genuinely surprised Iruka asked him that, Kakashi shifted and the menu slowly fell to the table as he explained, "Well, I'm an engineer now."

"Oh? Does that mean you make things?"

Kakashi chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I make things. Things that are designed specifically for space travel."

"Like… You design spaceships?" He wheezed and when Kakashi nodded with that smirk painted onto his face, Iruka snapped his fingers. "That makes so much sense."

"How's that?" Kakashi happily asked.

"You're too smart to be doing anything else." Iruka replied with utter confidence that had his friend squirming under the compliment.

"Took me a while to get to where I am." While Kakashi was trying to tone down the compliment, Iruka couldn't help but think that his hard work made his job all the more impressive. The waitress came for their orders and plastic menus and Iruka couldn't stop feeling so happy and proud for his best friend.

They eventually fell into conversation about what Kakashi did to get to where he was now and how high school was. Apparently, he only stopped gelling back his hair in their last year of high school. About the same time, he and Iruka had both been accepted to college or university and even shared an apartment at one point.

"And then I would come home to find that either your burnt food or yourself."

Iruka winced at Kakashi's words and whined, "it's not my fault my parents didn't teach me anything!"

"Not even Naruto is that bad at cooking," Kakashi countered and Iruka felt his face burning under his smug face that knew he'd won.

"Whatever. At least I'm good looking."

Like a soft breeze on his ears, Kakashi's now deep voice rumbled with real laughter and Iruka tried hard not to blush even further than he was. Slowly, he was starting to feel like things were back to normal, that this was his reality now. Kakashi hadn't really changed since they'd grown up. He was confident now, cool and he even had his whole life put together. Iruka wasn't really surprised by any of it.

He hadn't changed much at all. So, Iruka wondered what did to make them stop being friends.

"Kakashi," Iruka's tone sobered the air around them.

"Yes?"

Unable to look up, he squeezed his hands together, afraid to know the answer to the question he was about to ask.

"What happened?"

And the mood dropped a hundred stories to the floor. Their table was the quietest in the entire restaurant as Kakashi's face closed off and stared off to the side for a few moments. His mind went to another time and place as if reliving everything. He contemplated slowly as his face betrayed slight hints of emotion like upset, sad and even a little angry. The tension just got worse waiting. It felt like forever before he finally moved again, shifting in his seat and looking down at his hands as he spoke, "It was a lot of things as once, I think."

Waiting for an answer, Iruka nodded slowly and tried not to seem like he was trying to pressure as he asked, "Yeah?"

Kakashi hummed with his eyes stuck on his hands. "Well… We kind of drifted apart ever since high school. We got really busy up until about two or so years ago. Didn't help that you were always off somewhere for races."

"We grew apart?" Iruka didn't really understand what that meant or how that could even happen.

"Yeah, I think so." Sipping his water, Kakashi furrowed his brows, struggling with something. He didn't look up once or betray much emotion until he let a bit of something slip. As he spoke, Kakashi looked away with his hand itching his neck and brows bunched up and Iruka knew that was his frustrated face. It was kind of crazy to see that his mannerisms hadn't change. Maybe Iruka just knew him well enough. The mannerisms were of someone who was trying to hide something though.

"That's about when you started hanging out with Mizuki."

There were a few seconds of just the diner around them moving before Iruka shook his head and scoffed, "Oh, I see. Very funny. Great joke there."

There was a blink and Kakashi registered that he thought it was a joke. "I'm not joking."

As Iruka sat back in his seat with his mind blown, Kakashi was taking a sip of water as he muttered, "Wish I was."

Mizuki was his friend? Holy shit, that meant that he was in. He was part of the popular group. Wait, he was an adult now. That meant that popularity didn't matter which was kind of a bummer since they weren't in school or anything. At least he skipped all the awkwardness he'd probably been through in high school. That was probably why he and Kakashi hadn't been so close recently, he was probably so busy with work and his cool friend.

Although, looking across at the man in front of him who was his best friend, Kakashi was pretty cool now. Except his eyebrows because he was looking upset. No surprise at the mention of Mizuki. Iruka couldn't help but think back to just a few days ago when he just turned into a teen and the whole closet situation. He'd been ignoring that until now and felt kind of weird about it all. If they were close until a few years ago, it meant that they were able to somehow get over that.

"Hey, uh…" Iruka started to ask. "Do you remember my thirteenth birthday?"

And his embarrassment at asking quickly turned into fear when Kakashi's face stayed sour.

"Yes. Too much of it."

"Ahn," Iruka blushed hard. "Sorry about that."

"Not your fault." Kakashi waved and sat back in his seat, looking out into his thoughts. "Not the way I wanted to come out of the closet but the past is the past."

Iruka chuckled, "Yeah, we were in a closet. I had no idea what was going on really. Those jerks really hated my guts."

"Yeah," Kakashi agreed tightly and he seemed to be holding something back. "Well, now we're older and it's behind us."

"Yeah, and now we've got jobs and homes. That's true, you've got your own place too, right?"

At Iruka's enthusiasm, Kakashi smiled. "Yup, all my own."

"What's it like? Where is it? I bet it's in the forest like you always wanted."

"Nope." There was a chuckle. "It's in a suburb. It's white and it has a huge staircase in the middle. There's a super cool kitchen too."

The way Kakashi stared at him hinted and Iruka clued in. "You got your dad's house, didn't you?"

"Yup," Kakashi smirked and Iruka frowned, not knowing how to respond to that.

"What happened to moving out and having your own place? The little home by the lake with the trees and the telescope so you could see the stars."

"Well, I got it about a year ago after my dad got his place on the east coast and Yamato thought it was a great investment property." Kakashi was saying and Iruka stopped him.

"Yamato? Like, the one younger than us?"

"Hm? Oh, that's true. We all went to the same school."

"Since when do you hang out with Yamato?"

"Uh, about two years ago when you introduced us." And Kakashi looked away. At that point, Iruka didn't care to be surprised that he'd introduced them because he could tell that there was something amiss. This was a definitely a touchy subject and he wonder if it had anything to do with…

"So, you've been hanging out with him then?"

In his mind, there was a snot-nosed kid looking up at Iruka with big eyes who was quiet but always wanted to impress no matter what. Iruka was more than suspicious. Before Kakashi could press through his struggling confusion to speak, Iruka pressed with a same confusion at knowing his best friend apparently had a new best friend, "Instead of with me?"

"It's… Not like that," Kakashi stammered through but that helped Iruka understand zero percent of anything.

"Then what happened? Why are you friends and we're not?" Iruka pressed but Kakashi just looked down at the hands in his lap with a darkening expression. "What happened to you and me?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask yourself that?" Kakashi snapped, his dark eyes burning over at Iruka and that immediately made Iruka feel cold all over. It was an intense and accusing stare that hurt his very soul.

Frozen and unable to move from where he'd shrunk into his seat, Iruka watched as Kakashi's anger slowly melted away. "I'm sorry. I just… When I got engaged, you changed."

Kakashi took another frustrated sip and Iruka couldn't look down at his hand. He was too stunned to think or act on anything for a while. The very words Kakashi had said echoing in his mind, feeling like they were coming from an actor in a play.

"You're getting married?" Iruka finally whispered and he couldn't tell why he felt so off.

"Yeah." Kakashi whispered back. He should be happy for his best friend, right?

"Congratulations," Iruka plastered a smile over his face and Kakashi smiled softly.

"Thank you. That's the first time you actually congratulated us."

"I didn't before?"

"You mostly ignored me after I told you." The sound of the rest of the restaurant brought them back to reality and Iruka suddenly felt cold and hot at the same time, uncomfortable and ashamed of himself. What had been going on in his mind before he forgot everything?

"Sorry," He said sheepishly and Kakashi sighed, deflating a little.

"It's okay. I'm glad to see you again."

Their food was good and the conversation from there felt shallow and as much as Iruka tried to joke, there wasn't much heart put into them.

But he felt relieved that he knew at least a little bit of the reason and what had happened to their falling out. At least he still had his best friend. They could still be friends even if his past self had been weird. Even if his present self felt like his chest was squeezing tight.

"So, when's the big day?" Iruka grinned as Kakashi walked him to the front door of his building.

With a scratch of his head, he said, "It's this weekend actually."

"Really?"

"No jokes here."

"Like, Saturday?"

"Yup."

Iruka had a bad feeling from Kakashi scratching his head. "You didn't invite me."

"I tried calling." Kakashi helplessly said and when Iruka pouted, he quickly offered, "But I'm inviting you now."

Flashed of Kakashi in a tux flashed through Iruka's mind and it sounded like a great offer until he remembered that he'd have a chick on his arm that he'd never met.

"We'll see," He grinned and swung open the door with a wave.

"Later."

Kakashi waving was what Iruka last saw before the elevator doors shut. He was alone in a quiet elevator with his thoughts but he didn't know what to think. Everything was so different. His apartment was so different from the home he knew. His friends were all different and his bed was definitely not what he was used to.

He felt out of place in this world but slowly fitting in.

He went to bed with the thought that it was Wednesday.

His best friend was getting married in three days.

Huh.


	4. Mr Brightside

There is some creepy phone stuff that goes on so if you're not down for that, just skip ahead a bit once you read about a phone call! ;w;

* * *

Adulting was easy so far. Other than the stupid sense of impending doom.

He'd stayed up late most nights passed his bedtime. It was only about three in the afternoon when he woke up again and he just laid there in bed for the first time in a long time with nothing but peace and quiet. There was no baby screaming and crying. No parents downstairs making noise. Just him and his bed and plenty of chill. Plenty of time to sit with his thoughts. Kakashi was smugly sitting at the front of them. He needed something to do, someone to talk to.

He did kind of miss his parents though. What were they up to? And why hadn't they called? Didn't they miss him or care that he was in the hospital?

As if hearing his thoughts, he got a text from the one and only brother who asked what he was up to.

When he answered truthfully, Naruto immediately called him.

"Hey, hey, you want to go do something after school?" Naruto rushed out as lockers closed in the background.

"Sure. What do you have in mind?" Iruka wondered but Naruto chuckled playfully.

"You'll see when we get there."

A few hours later, Naruto hopped off a bus outside the apartment and flew inside from the rain that had started minutes before. Instead of going back outside though, Naruto led them to the elevator and pressed a button for the basement.

"Had a fight with the razor?" Naruto joked but Iruka shook it off, pretending that the scabs on his face weren't even there no matter how itchy they were.

"Whatever. Where are we even going?"

The elevator doors opened and Naruto motioned mysteriously, "Follow me."

Through the halls of the basement, they headed deeper into the building until they stopped at a set of double doors. Grabbing Iruka's keys, Naruto unlocked and led them through another set of doors into a bright and sparkling clean garage. There were cars from left to right of all the people in the building and they headed through until the second level of parking.

"Okay, so, you can't drive yet anyway since you forgot how but I forgot to give these to you the other night." Naruto explained as he motioned to another set of keys he'd pulled from his pocket. Biting his lip, Naruto handed them to Iruka without a shred of hesitation but he seemed concerned. "You have to promise you won't drive yet before you take a driving test."

The warmth and trust that flowed off Naruto in waves was so touching and beautiful. No wonder they seemed close. It was hard not to care about the guy even though Iruka kept picturing a chubby toddler with rosy cheeks.

Now, Iruka didn't know much about cars. He really didn't know much but he could tell when a car was cool or not and the cars that Naruto brought them too were both equally cool and amazing.

The first was a slick, futuristic car with a glossy, silver finish. The edges were sharp and clean in a way that Iruka had never seen before. It was a beautiful car he couldn't lie but his eyes were drawn to the other one right next to it.

"This one you got last year," Naruto was saying about the first one but he noticed how Iruka was drawn to the car next door and grinned. "And that is your baby."

"My baby?" Iruka repeated as he stood in front of a white sedan with a high spoiler and big, round fog lights in the front.

"The first car you ever bought." Naruto explained as Iruka drew his fingers along the side and looked in. "It's an Evo. This one is the sixth generation and you've had it ever since you were eighteen. It's the one that started all the racing, really."

It really was a beautiful car. It looked powerful and slick, like it could turn on a dime and shred rubber easily. Iruka had never really cared about cars but this one was speaking to him. It felt like there was a connection there that even Iruka couldn't understand.

There was a jingle and Iruka saw Naruto holding a pair of keys that Iruka grinned at.

In the front seat of the car, Iruka reverently touched and admired everything within reach.

But it kind of made him sad to see such greatness but not be able to do anything about it. He didn't know the first thing about cars or how to drive them.

"We'll have to put you through driving lessons soon." Naruto grinned in the seat next to him with a warmth that poured into Iruka's heart and soothed his worries, supportive. Kind of like a brother.

"Thanks, Naruto."

They spent the night wandering the streets and as much as the city was beautiful and sparkling, it was so busy all the time. Iruka was almost too distracted by everything to really pay attention to Naruto's words but things started to get serious.

"I was hoping that we'd get the Kickstarter going this month but a few things got in the way and now we have to rethink our whole social media plan. At least we've got a few more volunteers." He was talking about the non-profit and Iruka wanted so bad to understand all the jargon he was saying but it all felt so out of his reach. Naruto talked so highly about it though and was completely invested in it.

"So, why kids with learning disabilities?" Iruka asked and Naruto slowly got serious.

"Well, I'm one of them. I always had trouble in school and mom and dad would get frustrated a lot because I couldn't do homework like the other kids or I forgot a lot. Then we found out it was attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and we got so much help but…" Naruto said shyly to the ground, "I want to help kids like me who aren't diagnosed. Help them with tools I didn't have when I was a kid."

"You went through a lot." Iruka could see it in his eyes. "I wish I could remember that."

Naruto scoffed, "Don't worry, you wouldn't have anything to remember."

"Why not?"

"Well, you were always really busy and never had time to come home and chat so we weren't really this close before." Naruto smiled sadly at Iruka but it turned into a big, lovable grin as he patted Iruka's shoulder. "But this accident really brought us together!"

As Naruto laughed it off, Iruka could only chuckle as he wondered why he wouldn't want to be close to his little brother. They were very different ages though, and he apparently traveled a lot for work.

"Don't worry," Naruto was smiling at him with his big, blue eyes shining with an appreciation Iruka wasn't really used to. He seemed to have such a high regard of Iruka and genuinely cared about him, his words speaking straight to Iruka's self-esteem. "I'll tell you about everything you've forgotten."

It was an unconditional affection and respect that Iruka didn't know how to return. It made him care about Naruto all the more though.

"Good." Iruka threw his arm around the apparently younger man and joked, "Because if I find out that you owe me money!"

"Hah! I'll never ask you for money in a million years!" His little brother hugged him back and they goofed off that night until they ended up at Naruto's bus stop home.

Naruto had said that their parents were gone off on a hike with a group in the mountains without service or cellphones but that didn't stop Iruka from staring at their number that night and feeling very tempted to call them. Thankfully, they were still married and hadn't divorced. Not that they showed signs when he was younger but tons of kids in school said there wouldn't be any warning signs. They had also said that fedoras would always be popular but Iruka hadn't seen any in the future so far.

Instead of his parents, he called Kakashi. It had been purely out of habit. There had been so many times that he'd dialed that number, flopped in bed that this time felt no different. And then he remembered that Kakashi was getting married and almost hung up. A voice answered before he could, "Hello?"

"Ahn, hi," Iruka said awkwardly and automatically asked, "Is Kakashi there?"

"Uh, yeah, give me a sec."

After a long pause, Kakashi answered, "Hello?"

"Ahn, Kakashi! I was thinking. What wedding gift would you want? Also, are you throwing a bachelor party and do you need snacks?" Iruka had totally not been convincing himself to be a supportive friend all day. "Also, who was that?"

There was a pause for Kakashi to take all that in before he half sighed and laughed, "Well, that was Yamato."

"Ah." Iruka pouted but didn't ask why Yamato was over at Kakashi's house. Probably mooching off his food or something. Whatever. He could be friends with Kakashi too if he wanted but he wasn't going to get in the way of Iruka and Kakashi being friends again.

"You don't have to get us anything," Kakashi continue but Iruka had made up my mind.

"Too late. I'm surprising you." Iruka knew just what to get but he was going to have to get an official gift so that he didn't leave out the bride. He'd figure that part out later.

Kakashi chuckled to Iruka's delight.

"I'm not planning a bachelor party."

"What? Why not?"

"Well, things have been kind of busy lately so I'm just gonna stay at home and read. And before you go complaining, that's what I want."

He had a point, that did seem like a very Kakashi-esque party.

"At least let me take you somewhere."

There was grumbling.

"It's an evening thing. It's not gonna take long." Iruka had thought of it when talking to Naruto and it was a brilliant idea that he'd always wanted to do but never could. Until now.

After a long groan, Kakashi gave in, "Fine."

"Perfect. Tomorrow night at sundown. Be ready." And then he hung up.

With a happy grin and a plan, Iruka was bouncing with anticipation and couldn't contain himself even though it was time for bed.

Then reality set in and he remembered they were celebrating a wedding. And that felt like something horrible. It felt like it was the end of something. The closing of a book. He didn't like thinking about that and he immediately went to his phone when it rang again.

"Hello?" Iruka answered breathlessly, hoping it was Kakashi but getting a whole other person.

"Hey, babe." That voice. Why did he know that voice?

"Sorry, who is this?" Iruka asked as he pulled the phone away from his ear to look at the caller. 'Z'! Again, the same person from a few days ago!

"It's me," They said bluntly.

"Who?"

A frustrated sigh made Iruka just as frustrated. Did this guy not know what was going on? And 'babe'? He must have the wrong number.

"I think you have the wrong number."

"You ignore me for days and now you pretend like you don't even know me," They snapped and Iruka couldn't help but get angry back.

"Listen, buddy," He snapped. "I don't know where the hell you've been but I've been going through some shit."

It felt so exhilarating to swear and he kept going. "Maybe if I knew who you were than I'd be more inclined to talk to you. But right now, you're being a dick. And I don't like talking to dicks. So, if you're not going to answer me question, why don't you fuck right off?"

By the end of his rant, Iruka was panting but thrilled, liberated with words. Waiting for a reply, his breath evened out but the person didn't respond. Were they mad?

Listening intently, he could hear faint breathing over the static and worried he'd hurt them or made them mad.

"Um," Iruka started but then he heard something very unexpected and not something he had ever heard before from another person.

"Ahn," The person moaned.

"H-hello?" Iruka stammered, not knowing what was going on at all.

"Fuck," They groaned louder in a way that Iruka registered as highly sexual and a completely flip from the frustration.

Well, it was a different kind of frustration.

And that person seemed very frustrated because they kept going and Iruka was so confused by their words and how his body was reacting.

Through the moaning and pants, the other man groaned out, "I love it when you get mad at me. Yell at me more, baby."

Heart beating in his chest, Iruka didn't know how to tell the guy to stop or what to do.

"Who is this?" Iruka's voice cracked.

"You know who I am." The person was making louder and faster noises now and Iruka didn't want to be there for the end of it. "This body, this cock-"

Iruka hung up.

What the fuck was going on?

And why was his whole body tingling?

That night, to say the least, he went to bed satisfied but ashamed and grossed out with himself.

The next day, he pretended nothing happened. That call was probably supposed to be for someone else, he decided with a lot of doubt. He instead focused on what mattered the most. He had a plan to execute for his best friend. His thirty-year old and kinda handsome best friend.

By the time Kakashi showed up at his front door, he had a backpack full of his tools, his map and his spirits higher than a few hours ago. When Kakashi asked, Iruka said nothing but Kakashi trusted him to just tell him directions without any idea where they were going. Music blaring and singing to old and new songs, they goofed off and joked the whole way there and it felt like everything was back to normal.

The burgers at the stop they made were pretty good. The waitress smiled at them in a way that was a bit weird but otherwise the trek was pretty good.

Eventually, as they got closer, Kakashi started to ask questions about why they were going towards the beach when it was getting dark. The parking lot was almost empty since it was still spring and it was starting to get chilly from the night incoming but they were both in sweaters and sneakers as they headed through the brush to the sand. Sneakily out of his bag, Iruka draped out a towel and made a grand gesture to it.

"The best seat in the house."

With a chuckle, Kakashi suspiciously dropped onto the designated spot with sand all around him and a curious smile.

Out of the bag, Iruka pulled out a thermos of something he'd worked all day on and when Kakashi opened it, steam fogged his glasses but his smile stretched into a grin. "You didn't."

"I did, how could I not. It's the only thing I can actually make." Iruka flopped down onto the towel too with his own container of warm, miso soup Kushina had taught him how to make. It turns out that Kakashi loved the stuff and Iruka had memorised the recipe so that he could remake it by memory. He could make grilled cheese too but just barely.

"I don't think I'll ever figure out the eggplant bit though," Iruka mused as they sipped in silence and watched the waves, the sun setting ever deeper below the sea level.

"It's still great," Kakashi said through mouthfuls. "I haven't had this in years."

"Yeah? How long's it been?" Iruka would have thought that he'd make it more often since he knew how to actually do it.

"About ten years."

Iruka almost choked, spluttering, "What?"

With a shrug, Kakashi stared down at his soup. "Yeah. You didn't really have much time to hang with your best friend when your career got rolling. I got busy too so… Just never had time."

The was a long pause as Kakashi sipped where Iruka was just sitting there, upset with himself and frustrated that he couldn't do anything about that. He wished so bad he could go back in time and change that, be a better friend. But he was an adult now. At least losing his memories brought them together. He couldn't imagine a life without Kakashi, the very thought was heartbreaking. What would happen when Kakashi got married? Would they still stay close?

Iruka almost didn't hear through his own thoughts when Kakashi muttered, "Not like I wanted to be around you when Mizuki was there."

That reminded Iruka he hadn't heard at all from Mizuki. As much as he wondered what an older Mizuki looked like, he was kind of annoyed that Mizuki hadn't even bothered to check in on him. Seemed like he didn't even care.

"Some friend," Iruka muttered and when Kakashi stared at him for a minute, Iruka confusedly stared back. "What? You'd think a friend would at least call, right?"

"He hasn't even called?"

"No."

"Maybe you blocked him," Kakashi mused and waved a hand. "Here let me have a look at your phone."

"Block? What's blocking?" Iruka handed over the device but not without scooting closer and watching with an arm on Kakashi's shoulder that didn't go unnoticed.

"Well, you can stop someone from calling or texting by blocking them." Kakashi muttered as he tapped his way to Iruka's contacts and scrolled. "Sometimes you go weeks without talking and block each other."

"Do we fight a lot?"

"Yeah, sometimes you just… Need time apart." Kakashi avoided eye contact but noticed when Iruka said nothing, taking that information in. "Well, looks like he's not blocked."

When Iruka stared at the phone, it took him a minute to see which contact Kakashi had clicked on and thought he was dreaming or had died and gone to hell.

"'Z'" Iruka repeated out loud and felt like he was going to shrivel up and die. Oh god. Mizuki had thought he had called his girlfriend. He must have hit the wrong speed dial or something.

"How do I block people?" Iruka asked faintly and took notes when Kakashi showed him, quickly snatching the phone and hiding his shame with the next step in his bachelor-ish party plan.

"Close your eyes," Iruka commanded and he grabbed his backpack.

Complying, Kakashi smirked, "You know, it'll be dark in a few minutes and I won't see anything anyway."

"I know!"

"Better hurry," The taunting just made Iruka's plan all the greater and he was able to distract himself from the thoughts creeping into his mind, whispering that Iruka really knew what the whole thing with Mizuki's calls were about.

After a minute or two of setup, Iruka flicked open the lighter he'd bought and excitement made his fingers tremble.

And for the first time, Iruka lit up the first of the fireworks he'd bought.

They hissed for a bit and the first one went off into the sky and even though Iruka should be looking up at the beauty in the sky, he couldn't tear his eyes from the man opening his eyes on the beach a few yards away. Against his pale skin and dark eyes, Iruka could see the brilliant colours going off and sparkling in the sky above. It reminded him that he had many more fireworks to light and he went down the line he'd made in the sand, lighting each one.

At the end, he stepped back and watched as they fizzed and burned up into the sky in hot, amazing streaks. All the while, Iruka couldn't help but stare at the man in awe of the fireworks as he slowly came to a realisation.

The lights eventually died down and Iruka stepped carefully towards the man lying on his back, staring up at the lingering smoke against the dark skies and the stars beyond. As Iruka sat down with his newfound understanding and Kakashi said softly next to him, "Thank you."

"Anything for you," Iruka said automatically. The quiet waves lulled them into silence again. Next to him, Kakashi was quiet and somber again, something that Iruka had noticed throughout the week even now that they were apparently closer. Something was bothering him and Iruka could feel it like an itch. "Excited?"

His question went unanswered for a while until Kakashi took a deep breath, "To be honest, not really."

"Why not?" Iruka listened with concern.

"Mmm," Kakashi hummed, closing his eyes and effectively closing Iruka off with the short words, "Didn't expect to ever get married."

The waves rolled in again softly and Kakashi sounded like he had resigned himself to whatever was happening. He had made a decision and Iruka felt his heart sink even more against the will trying to keep it happy and light for his friend.

"Hey, Kakashi?" Iruka softly asked, almost hoping he didn't hear.

"Yeah?"

Against everything he had been dreading and ashamed of, there was a part of Iruka that wanted to know more than anything. If everything the bullies in school had said were true. If what he'd been suspicious of was true. If what he was feeling in his heart was real.

"Am I gay?"

Iruka didn't have to look away from the waves to see that Kakashi sat up on a hand, fully awake and watching him.

"Yeah," Kakashi finally whispered back but before Iruka could feel anything, he slid closer and even sitting he was still taller than Iruka. "Want to know something crazy though?"

Iruka nodded and Kakashi leaned in and sneakily whispered into his ear, "So are Mizuki and his friends."

Barking a laugh, Iruka flopped back and tried to keep tears down as he choked, "I'm dating him, aren't I?"

There was a nod.

"I think I'm gonna break up with him."

"What?"

"He's such an asshole! He didn't even come see me in the hospital!" Iruka huffed as Kakashi laughed and laid down beside him, their shoulders touching.

There was still a smile on his face. Iruka frowned, rolling onto his side and staring the other man down. "Why are you so happy?"

Looking over with a soft smile, Kakashi said simply, "I missed you."

Even though Kakashi had said it nonchalantly and with such confidence, Iruka still couldn't help but feel flustered on the inside.

"I'm different now," He mumbled and immediately grabbed at his short locks. "Feels weird to have short hair."

"Yeah," Kakashi murmured and his hand followed Iruka's, curiously running his fingers through his hair and sending shivers down Iruka's back that he hid. For a split second, their eyes met and Iruka could have sworn he saw something but he quickly looked away, knowing he was wrong.

"We should probably leave before a cop comes."

The air was chilled again and they slowly made their way back to Iruka's apartment with in comfortable ease. It was only after they said goodbye and the elevator doors had closed that it felt like the night and much more was over and done with. It felt like something was gone now and he couldn't do anything to get it back.

When the doors opened, Iruka hurried through tearful eyes to his door and struggled with the lock for far too long before it gave. Slamming his back against the closed wood, Iruka felt everything just falling apart.

"Fuck," He swore through tears, sliding to the ground and hiccupping against his emotions and everything that had happened.

The floor was wet and slippery by the time Iruka peeled himself off of it. After soaking in the tub for a long time, he slowly was coming back to reality and it felt a little better to lay in bed a bit.

Sleep never came though and he was left with the swirling thoughts and his heart beating out of his chest. He felt so alone and cold. He just wanted to feel okay again without the memories of being shoved into lockers and called names at the front of his mind. His apartment was far too quiet to be there alone.

So, he left. Without thinking, stretched his arm out when a cab drove up.

"Where to, sir?" The driver asked when Iruka got in.

"Home." That's where he wanted to be more than anything. Warm and safe.

"And where would that be?"

"Oh, right, sorry."

A few minutes later, they were on the highway towards the suburbs Iruka knew well. They passed a familiar home that made Iruka's chest burn. When the driver told him a price, Iruka threw money at him and bolted for the door. He was about to ring the doorbell a million times but then he remembered that it was super late at night. Instead, he knocked softly and left a drop of rain hit his head.

"Great," He mumbled and waited on the front step as it started to rain harder and harder. Still, there was no answer so he knocked again. And again. And again, until finally a light flickered on inside.

"Iruka?" Red hair graying and eyes crinkled at the edges, his mother looked like the vision of everything that was loving and warm, what he'd been missing this whole time.

"Mom," His throat was tight from the tears filling his eyes. With a pained expression, she opened her arms.

"Oh, my poor baby. Come here."

Her arms were so comforting and enveloping even though he kind of had to stoop to hold her back, making his sobbing even harder.

"I know, I know," She hummed and held him close until his tears slowed down.

"I love you, mom."

"I heard the accident was bad," She later said at the table with a warm cup of tea. "But you were already out of the hospital and Naruto said you were doing okay except for the memories."

"Yeah," He sniffed across from her, hunched up in blankets. "I was. But I can't remember anything passed my thirteenth birthday and… It's been so confusing."

"I bet," She squeezed his hand. "You were going through so much, trying to figure out who you are."

"I don't think I like the person I was before the accident," He mumbled, thinking of how he'd pushed Kakashi away and never really got to spend time with the people he cared about.

"That's okay," Kushina reassured with a hand on his. "Change is what makes us human."

With a sniff and a hug, she tucked him into his bed up in his old room. He dropped like a rock into the deepest sleep he'd had in a long time.

And woke up to a sad realisation.

Today was Saturday, the day Kakashi was getting married.

And Iruka just wanted to throw himself back into bed.

This sucked.

Instead of moping, he made his way downstairs and found everyone at the table.

"Iruka!" Naruto lit up and immediately threw himself into another chair. "Here, come sit."

"Hey, bud," Minato patted his shoulder and they sat down as Kushina brought them breakfast.

"So, was he like this as a thirteen-year-old or what?" Naruto grinned and the parentals chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah. Awkward as always and super weird," Iruka huffed but Minato disagreed and he went into a story about how he used to be a weird kid too.

It felt like home. And Iruka wished it could be like this all the time, like nothing had changed. But the outside world wasn't so nice.

"We're going out to volunteer at a family shelter, wanna come?" Naruto offered but Iruka opted to stay home and waved them goodbye when they were ready to go later. That left him alone at home and with his mind set on what he was going to do. He still had to give Kakashi and his wife their wedding present. There was something else he could do though that was easier.

He didn't call Mizuki. No, he was too much of a coward for that but he wasn't a coward when it came to texting.

A deep breath in and a tap later, he'd sent his break up message and anxiously waited for a reply.

It took less than a minute. And it started with a call that Iruka didn't pick up. Heck no, why would he?

But after the call had ended, his phone blew up again and again until he saw that his voicemail was full. And then the messages started. It started with pleading and then the messages devolved into threats but eventually it just devolved into name calling. It wasn't as bad as actually talking to someone though. And he was okay with that because after half an hour, everything went quiet.

Opening his phone, the messages were in the triple digits and when he scrolled through them, they were all mostly the same except for one that caught Iruka's attention because it mentioned a word he hadn't heard or read in days: school.

'You're just an ugly slut who who's been licking my boots since primary school. Why don't you go be someone else's target practice and maybe they'll pity you like I did.'

Pity? Target? Wait, did Mizuki know his friends had bullied Iruka at school? And he hadn't done anything? No, it sounded like… It sounded like he'd been the one using Iruka as target practise.

Oh, heck no.

Then he blocked Mizuki's number like Kakashi had taught him to and he felt so much better. He didn't know Mizuki, he didn't like it one bit that Mizuki was treating him so horribly and he didn't need that in his life at all. There was a whole weight off his shoulders but there was still something he had to do that he was dreading more.

The gift he'd made was one that he'd put a lot of thought into. He could have gone with something easy like money or a toaster but he wanted it to be special. Inside a brand new shoe box, he'd made a kit for movie watching including a few movies and gift cards for extra measure. There was popcorn and goodies and even that weird salt and vinegar topping stuff Kakashi liked so much. He didn't know what the bride would like so he put a range of everything.

Bride. Kakashi's wife.

He sighed and stuck the last bit of tape on the wrapping. The walk was a short one and it felt like it had gone by too fast. He hadn't expected people to be at Kakashi's though much less a huge lineup of parked cars and people going in and out of the house. So much for dropping the gift off on the step and doorbell ditching.

Weaving through people in suits and dresses, he stepped into Kakashi's home and noted how much nothing had changed.

"Hey, Iruka," Someone greeted and Iruka didn't recognize him at first. The mousy brown hair and plain face clicked.

"Yamato," Iruka shook his outstretched hand. "Hey, it's good to see you again. You look good in a tux."

"Thanks," Yamato said with surprised gratitude.

"Have you seen Kakashi?" Iruka quickly asked, really not wanting to see the bride at all. He was fragile enough as it was.

"Uh, yeah, he's getting ready in his room."

"Thanks," Iruka rushed up the stairs before Yamato could say anything else. Panting and nervous, he hesitated at the door but knocked anyway.

Anxiety rising with the sound of steps, Iruka waited until the door opened with Kakashi standing on the other side. His suit was sparkling white, waistcoat contrasting black and his tie a matching white. With his hair fluffed and natural, Iruka couldn't help but think that… He was beautiful.

"Iruka," Kakashi seemed surprised but let him in anyway.

"Hey, I was just gonna drop this off but I didn't know you were having the wedding here," He rushed out but Kakashi chuckled away his nervous jitters and made him feel safe.

"Don't worry about it. Are you staying for the ceremony?"

"Ahn, I actually have an appointment today," An appointment with a pillow and sad romance movies. "But here, take it."

The box transferred hands. "Mind if I open it?"

Meeting dark eyes, Iruka nodded. As hands ripped open the paper, memories of them going through his hair made his heart burn.

"Wow," Kakashi said in amazement as he went through the box and laughed at the contents.

"It's for a movie night. In case you just need to chill." Iruka smiled against the pain. The fond smile that his best friend had for him was starting to hurt even more.

His straight best friend and the best one he could ever ask for. The one he'd kissed in a closet on his birthday and one who had still been there for him no matter what. Kakashi was the greatest guy any girl could ever dream of and one Iruka had dreamed of many times before but refused to believe was because of anything he felt. The same guy who let Iruka be himself, who made Iruka feel like himself. And now he was getting married.

To someone else.

And Iruka couldn't stand that.

He hated the thought.

Because he realised that he had the hugest crush on his best friend.

Maybe even love.

"Iruka?" Kakashi put down the box, concern and worry in his eyes that was blurred by tears in Iruka's. He didn't notice he'd started crying.

"Ah, sorry." His voice even cracked and he wiped desperately at his eyes. "Just got something in my eye is all."

"Iruka." Kakashi almost cut through his bullshit but Iruka didn't meet his eyes, the thing that would break his walls down.

"Sorry, just… Realise something a little too late is all." He put on a smile couldn't fool anyone and it certainly didn't fool Kakashi.

"Yeah," Kakashi said softly and Iruka could feel him getting closer but was a deer in headlights. "A little too late."

Hands reached out and held his softly, pulling whatever he had deep inside right out into the open, "I love you."

He quickly hurried out, "You've always been my best friend in my mind and… I can't bear to lose you."

Seeing Kakashi's lips move inches from his face, Iruka barely heard the words coming out of them.

"We'll always be best friends."

It was barely a whisper and Iruka could only whisper back, "Promise?

"Promise." And it felt like they were saying goodbye.

"I should go." Iruka quickly tried to compose himself, sniffing and pulling his hands away to dry his face. He did notice the red around Kakashi's eyes though.

"Wait, here." Kakashi disappeared into the closet for a second and pulled out a shoebox that Iruka knew very well.

"I couldn't find the book though," Kakashi said in dismay but Iruka took the box from his hands and pulled a strained smile.

"Thank you."

"Kakashi?" Yamato poked his head in and Iruka immediately backed away towards the door. "Oh, is everything okay?"

"It's fine," Kakashi quickly answered.

"We're great," Iruka chimed in and backed out the way Yamato came. "Well, I should be going. Have a great day."

And with that, he flew down the stairs. God, he wanted to go home. He'd embarrassed himself enough. He just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

"He's going to be such a wonderful husband. They both are." A woman was saying to another man as they crossed right into Iruka's path and he quickly backpedalled but not back up the steps. Instead, he gripped the shoebox and almost tripped down the steps in an attempt to hide away and never be seen again especially with his burning red cheeks.

Down in the basement, he sniffed and tried to keep things quiet but he felt so loud. Everything around him was so loud and he just wanted quiet. Right under the stairs, Iruka opened the door to the closet and snuck in.

It was dark and the sounds from outside were still going on but less now. It was a peaceful calm that made tears stream down his cheeks even faster and he gripped the box tight, trying not to imagine the feeling of lips on his own from almost seventeen years ago.

With a hiccupping sob, he pressed his head against the shelf out of frustration.

He was surprised when things started falling in a cloud of dust on him.

There was a hard sneeze.

And then another.

And another until the frenzy had passed. Finally, the dust settled and he laid flopped on the dark closet flooring, feeling worn and tired.

Wait, when did he turn the light off?

Standing on shaky legs, noises outside the closet started to become clearer and he could hear music, familiar and so welcoming. There were voices and giggles of what sounded like kids. Kids his age. His pants were baggy, his shirt was loose and when he touched his head, he almost broke out into tears to find his head full of long, luscious locks. Yes! Yes, he was thirteen again!

Before he could cheer anything though, there were sounds of someone coming down the steps above. Kakashi.

Pressing his ear against the door, Iruka listened against the music to the voices who greeted the newcomer.

"Ah, Kakashi," It sounded like Mizuki. "Iruka's waiting for you in the closet."

"In the closet?" Kakashi answered in confusion.

"Yeah, he said he was taking a nap or something," Iruka heard Mizuki lie.

Despite the snickers though, Iruka could hear Kakashi's soft unease but only barely over the music, "Okay."

Iruka knew how this was going to end. Kakashi would come inside and he would unknowingly kiss Iruka and someone would throw open the door, embarrassing them both to the point of tears. He didn't know what the heck would happen after everyone would leave but he knew what he wanted to do. He wanted revenge.

"Right in here," Someone said as the door opened and a tall, lanky figure was pushed inside. Iruka wondered why he hadn't realised it was Kakashi the first time. He was unmistakable in his awkward stance and nervous breathing.

As much as Iruka kinda wanted to kiss the daylights out of his best friend, he instead piped and patted where Kakashi's face was, "Ah, Kakashi! Finally, I have to ask you something."

"Iruka?" Kakashi grabbed the arms tapping his glasses and moved in closer, asking as quietly as he could with the music, "What's going on?"

"Okay, so," Iruka whispered as he slowly backed up to the shelves, leading Kakashi with him. "They're planning to pull a prank on us. Probably from all the times I've messed with them but they kinda deserved it after all the names and stuff. Anyway, I'm gonna prank them back."

"What? How?" Kakashi asked as Iruka blindly searched the shelves.

"With this!" Iruka proudly held out a pouch in the dark for no one to see. "Wait, gimme your hand."

"O-okay." Iruka waved a hand around in the dark until he found a warm, clean palm and carefully wrapped Kakashi's fingers around the packet. "No way. You're not, are you?"

"Heck yeah," Iruka pulled the pouch back to rip it carefully open and shuffled his way in the dark to stand by the door. Ear against the wood, he could hear giggling and muffled noises of movement. Soon.

"Okay, when they open the door, don't breathe in," Iruka warned. "Trust me, I know from experience."

"What?"

"Ready?"

"I guess?"

It only took a few more seconds before the handle giggled in the dark. Swinging open, there was an erratic flash of phones and cameras as Iruka pinched his nose shut to fling the pouch out in a fan. But Iruka saw the one holding the doorknob and he specifically made sure it hit Mizuki dead in the eyes.

"Oh god!"

"What the fuck!?"

And then the wild mass of sneezes started.

"What did you do!" One girl started coughing and ran up the stairs while the others were trying to control their flurry of sneezed. A guy sneezed right into another's mouth and they ran in horror up the stairs too. Soon, they were all alone in the basement, mouths covered and listening to the symphony of agony upstairs. Ahn, that felt so much better.

"Wow," Iruka looked back to find Kakashi still covering his mouth and nose but his eyes huge and in awe.

"All in a day's work," Iruka grinned and ducked through the possible contaminated zone. At the foot of the stairs, he listened with his hands on his hips, wondering why he'd invited them anyway. Sure, Anko was nice but the others? If they were going to pull pranks like they'd planned just to bully them then he wasn't down for that. He turned to Kakashi. "Hey."

"Yeah?" Kakashi breathed once he was long out of the infect air, cheeks flushed and looking so dorky and cute with his button down and khakis.

"They're still not gone… Do you mind if I kick em out?"

"Eh? Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, they're sort of being asshats."

"Sort of?" Kakashi snorted and stared up the stairs too. "More like are. It's like their default setting."

"Yeah…" Iruka remembered how awkward Kakashi had looked all night and hated that he was willing to make his friend so uncomfortable just to hang out with the 'cool' kids. "I'll get rid of them and then we can have our own party."

Kakashi's grin gave him the confidence to march up the stairs, almost tripping over his baggy pants.

The group were taking turns pulling out tissues in the living room and rubbing their noses.

"Another brilliant prank," Iruka declared, striking a pose as most of them glared at him.

"Fuck you, Umino," Mizuki spat through a nose full of tissues, his eyes and nose running more than the rest. It was super uncool and Iruka relished in in. He might have had a few text messages from the future on his mind.

A few other guys echoed Mizuki's sentiment but Iruka wasn't taking it to heart. "What is this stuff?"

"Anthrax. Better go wash off," He answered with a big grin and the whole room gasped. Within seconds, the entire house was empty with kids streaming out for their own homes in a panic. He watched with sadistic satisfaction as they sprinted and Kakashi came up beside him a second later.

"Wow. They don't even run like that for gym class." Kakashi leaned against the door, more relaxed than before and it reassured Iruka that he'd done the right thing.

"Yeah, they'll be aching in the morning." As they watched the running and the night sky above, the events of the day and everything that had happened were starting to weigh Iruka down heavily.

"Wanna watch a movie?" Kakashi offered and Iruka couldn't say no to him.

Downstairs they flopped onto the huge, comfy couch, slumping into each other and Iruka could feel himself nodding off as the movie played. It felt so good to have a warm body next to him and the pressure of a cheek on his head. He didn't even realise when the movie ended. The screen turned off and the basement went dark, soothing him into unconsciousness as a pair of lips kissed his head.

"If you forgot anything, call me," Kakashi waved the next morning as Iruka sleepily dragged himself through the front door.

They'd woken up to a dirty basement and Iruka had put Kakashi's worries to sleep by starting the cleaning process himself, throwing away the plastic cups and boxes. Juggling his present box in his arms to rub his nose from the sneezing powder he'd cleaned up, Iruka couldn't help but feel a bit sad that the night had gone by so fast but was glad to be back in his present.

"Kakashi, really," He said seriously as he turned back, trying to show as much gratitude as possible with his smile. "Thank you."

Through his black-rimmed glassed, the older boy winked and shot him a finger gun that hit Iruka right in the heart. "No worries."

"See you Monday!" Iruka threw over his shoulder as he marched his way back home, holding his precious birthday box in his arms like a box of precious antiques and that image of Kakashi forever burned into his mind.

On the way home, he tried to remember his Kakashi with the thirty-year-old Kakashi he had hung out with the past few days and the image of older Kakashi was fading away. Most of the memories were. He didn't remember what he'd done when he wasn't with Naruto or Kakashi. He knew there were things he was forgetting but he couldn't figure out what in specific. He hoped it was nothing important. Sadly, he did remember all the terrible things Mizuki had texted him after their break up and he wondered if that had happened every time they'd 'taken a break' as Kakashi had put it. He decided he didn't need that in his life no matter how popular he was. He was really happy with what he had now; loving parents, the bestest friend in the entire world and eventually a super cool little brother.

Speaking of family, he had a duo of adults to appease. That was assuming that they hadn't called out of pure rage. Either that or they weren't angry but that was a shot in the dark. Arms cradling his present, he kneed over the front door and somehow got inside without dropping anything.

"Mom?" He called out. "Dad?"

Against all expectation, the house was quiet.

No dads shuffling, no moms complaining, no babies blabbing.

Had he forgotten they were going somewhere? Did they leave somewhere without telling him?

In a panic, he called out again and kicked off his shoes, hurrying and almost tripping over his pants through the house.

"Surprise!"

Confetti blasted through the kitchen and his parents broke out into laughter when Iruka squeaked a scream.

"Holy shii-" He cut himself off midway, Kushina's smile getting tense for a second before he smoothed things over. The whole kitchen was decorated, there was cake sitting in the middle of the table, and there was a present waiting on Naruto's toddling lap. "You guys did this all for me?"

"Oh, course we did," Minato clapped a hand on his shoulder and they brought him in for hugs. "Happy birthday, bud."

"We've got a surprise for you," Kushina slowly took the box from Naruto's wiggling fingers. "Here, open it."

With eager smiles, they watched the wrapping fall away and Iruka gasped.

The box couldn't have been real. It must have been an old box they were reusing. They couldn't have gotten him his first cellphone. Well, technically his second but he couldn't remember much of the one he'd had when he was thirty and this felt… It felt like he owned it, like it was really his.

"Thank you!" He gushed and hugged them all so hard. He had never expected any of this in a million years and was so grateful. He even went from hugging his parents over to the baby and gave Naruto a fond kiss on the forehead, remembering bits and pieces of the amazing man he'd grow up into. He promised, "Thanks, buddy. If you ever need help with homework, let me know."

He missed the way Kushina and Minato looked at each other in awe. They carefully went through the process of setting up the phone so that he could really use it. For most of the day, they goofed off. When Kushina suggested going out for food, Iruka felt his stomach churn from all the takeout he'd eaten when he was thirty and asked if maybe they could eat food at home. So, they made food together.

"Heh mom," He asked as they ate their creations, thinking through the past few days and realising that there were things he missed and things he didn't. Pants were one of them. "Can we go shopping soon? I think I need new clothes."

"What's wrong with the pants you have, honey?"

"Well, they keep falling and it gets annoying tripping over them so much." His words made both adults look at each other stunned.

"Of course, we can, bud." Minato gave Kushina a covert shrug of confusion and despite Iruka's eye roll, they seemed very happy with his new interest in looking normal. Kushina opted to stay home as they went to the store and Minato proudly held open the passenger seat for Iruka to climb in.

For the second time that week, Iruka got to sit in the front but this time he was watching as cars passed and the whole dash as his dad drove. With every gear switch and turn of the wheel, Iruka was more and more entranced by how cool cars were. No wonder his older self drove cars for a living. It looked so cool. A lot cooler than from the backseat. He couldn't imagine how cool it could be to actually drive.

"Awesome," He whispered to himself and Minato smiled.

"You okay?"

"Huh? Ah, yeah," Iruka said truthfully.

"Yeah? You've been acting funny since you got home this morning."

"Funny?"

Glancing over, Minato smiled, "You seem more adult now."

If only Iruka could tell him that he had been put in those shoes for almost a week. Instead, he smirked, "Maybe it's age catching up to me."

He got a chuckle and as they parked into the mall and got out, Iruka looked back at the car and asked, "Hey, dad? When can I start driving lessons?"

"Driving lessons?" Minato seemed blown away by the question but happily answered, "Technically, you can start when you're sixteen but… Give it a year or two and maybe we can take the car out for a spin down the backroads."

"Really?" Iruka glowed, excited to even have the chance to try and drive a huge machine like that. He should watch more shows about cars and racing. Did they have any movies about driving at home? Could they rent any?

Minato smiled down at his eager son but that smile quickly turned into horror when Iruka asked, "Can you teach me about rallying?"

On Monday when he walked up to an unknowing Kakashi waiting for him on the sidewalk and poked him in the side, the other teen jumped. "Holy shit, you scared me."

"Aw, come on. I didn't think I looked that bad," Iruka joked.

"You do. I mean, you don't! You don't look bad at all." Kakashi stammered. Finally finishing with, "You look good."

Cheeks flared and pride fluffed, Iruka strode towards school with a spring in his step and a signed poster in his backpack he'd later give to his best friend, "Thanks."

As unsure Iruka was of his new choice of fitting pants and very plain shirt inspired by seventeen years into the future, he felt okay. He felt better with himself than he had in a long time. He felt comfortable in his clothes and with himself.

"Have you ever thought of losing the gel?" He asked nonchalantly on their way.

People stared of course when he walked through school. He noticed a brown-haired boy with big eyes watching them in awe and made a selfish promise he wouldn't introduce Yamato to his best friend. Sure, it was selfish to stop Kakashi from a potential friend down the line but he more than anything wanted a future where Kakashi and him were still best friends. He would eventually have to deal with the girls that would throw themselves on Kakashi and the one who would eventually become his wife but he'd cross that bridge when it came time.

"Hey, Umino! Nice pants," Someone jeered from a group of teenagers in matching baggy sweatpants and shirts up ahead but instead of flinching like Kakashi did, he stopped and stared at them.

"Got a problem?" One of the bullies from Mizuki's gang taunted, not thinking that Iruka would have a come back.

Iruka remembered something Kakashi had told him a long time ago as a joke before Iruka had started wearing the baggy trend too.

"I don't have a problem. I think you might though when you hear why Mizuki wants to wear baggy pants." There were a few things he still remembered from the future and a few revelations that he would always remember about Mizuki too.

"What are talking about, dweeb?" The main kid talking seemed uneasy but the other guys listened in, interested in gossip.

"Well, in prison guys used to sag their pants to let the other guys know they were…. Open for business." Iruka grinned and winked to the pale, confused group before dragging Kakashi away to their lockers.

"That was insane." Kakashi gushed but Iruka immediately felt guilty. Mizuki was definitely going to be gay too and he kind of just set him up for bullying.

"Yeah, but what if they go after him now?" Iruka worried.

"Pff, so what? They put you through years of misery and now you feel bad of them?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, when Mizuki realises he's gay then he's gonna have a hard time."

"What?" Kakashi froze. "Where did you hear that?"

"Well," Iruka started, trying to come up with an excuse. "He kind of gives me that vibe you know?"

"A vibe?" Kakashi asked unconvinced. "Have you ever gotten the vibe from anyone else?"

"Yeah, like a radar."

Kakashi picked up his backpack and smirked when Iruka flushed at how silly he sounded, "I don't think you radar needs a tuning."

Iruka wanted to tell him so badly about everything that had happened and what they'd gone through but Kakashi would never believe him. Someday though, he would have to come out of the closet and tell Kakashi how he felt but he would do that in due time. As much as he kept thinking back to his first kiss, he couldn't dwell on that moment. Now, he was happy to have his best friend back and joking around with him like everything was normal, his present.

"Well," Kakashi said as he pushed off the other lockers and started to his own down the hall. "When you get that radar fixed, come and find me."

"Eh?" Iruka called after his tall figure. "Why?"

Secretive smirk on his lips as he looked back, Kakashi threw back as he went, "To test it."

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**_13 Going On 30_**

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Hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as I did writing!  
Happy birthday to the amazing Iruka and the beautiful community that loves and supports him!


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